The Plaza Miranda bombing ( fil, Pambobomba sa Liwasang Miranda) occurred during a political rally of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
at
Plaza Miranda
Plaza Miranda is a public square bounded by Quezon Boulevard, Hidalgo Street and Evangelista Street in Quiapo, Manila. It is the plaza which fronts the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church), one of the main churches of the City of ...
,
Quiapo district,
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
on August 21, 1971. It caused nine deaths and injured 95 others, including many prominent Liberal Party politicians.
Bombing
The Liberal Party's campaign rally was held to proclaim the candidacies of
eight senatorial bids as well as the candidate for the mayoralty race in Manila. As a crowd of about 4,000 gathered to hear speeches, two
grenade
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...
s were reportedly tossed on stage.
Casualties
Among those killed instantly were a 5-year-old child and ''
The Manila Times
''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English language, English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrati ...
'' photographer Ben Roxas. Almost everyone on stage was injured, including incumbent congressman for Palawan and future senator
Ramon V. Mitra Jr., incumbent Senator
Jovito Salonga
Jovito "Jovy" Reyes Salonga, KGCR (; June 22, 1920 – March 10, 2016) was a Filipino politician and lawyer, as well as a leading opposition leader during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos from the declaration of martial law in 1972 until the P ...
, Senator
Eddie Ilarde
Edgar Ubalde Ilarde (August 25, 1934 – August 4, 2020) was a Filipino radio and television host. On radio and television, he hosted programs such as ''Kahapon Lamang'', '' Student Canteen'', and ''Darigold Jamboree''.
His first position as a p ...
, Senator
Eva Estrada-Kalaw
Eva Kalaw ( Evangelina Reynada Estrada; June 16, 1920 – May 25, 2017) was a Filipina politician who served as a senator in the Senate of the Philippines from 1965 to 1972 during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. She was one of the key opp ...
, Liberal Party president
Gerardo Roxas
Gerardo Manuel de Leon Roxas Sr. (August 25, 1924 – April 19, 1982), better known as Gerardo M. Roxas or simply Gerry Roxas, was one of two children of former Philippine President Manuel Roxas. He was the father of Gerardo "Dinggoy" A. ...
,
Sergio Osmeña Jr., son of former President of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...
Sergio Osmeña
Sergio Osmeña Sr. (, ; 9 September 1878 – 19 October 1961) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fourth president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was vice president under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudden ...
, attorney Martin B. Isidro who served as councilor, Vice Mayor and Congressman for the City of Manila, Ambrosio "King" Lorenzo Jr. who served as the 2nd District Councilor of Manila, and
Ramon Bagatsing
Ramon Delaraga Bagatsing (August 19, 1916 – February 14, 2006) was a Filipino politician. He was the only Filipino of Indian ancestry and person with disability (as an amputee) to serve as Mayor of the City of Manila from 1971 to 1986. Baga ...
, the party's mayoral candidate for
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
.
Salonga was among those most seriously injured. The blast left him blind in one eye and deaf in one ear. Small pieces of
shrapnel
Shrapnel may refer to:
Military
* Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use
* Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material
Popular culture
* ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics)
* ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...
remained lodged in his body until his death in 2016. Councilor Ambrosio "King" Lorenzo Jr. was in a coma for two weeks. He lost sight in his left eye and hearing on the same side. Ramon Bagatsing, the Liberal Party mayoralty candidate for Manila, lost his left leg and suffered a crushed right cheek bone and a shattered right arm.
Suspects
Marcos blamed the
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
and subsequently suspended the privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
.
Suspicion of responsibility for the blast fell upon incumbent President
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
. Most historians continue to suspect that Marcos perpetrated the bombing as a pretext for his declaration of martial law.
There were a series of deadly bombings in 1971, and the CIA privately stated that Marcos was responsible for at least one of them. The agency was also almost certain that none of the bombings were perpetrated by Communists. U.S. intelligence documents declassified in the 1990s contained further evidence implicating Marcos. A proven
false flag attack
A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...
took place with the attempted assassination of Defense Minister
Juan Ponce Enrile
Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr., (born Juanito Furagganan; February 14, 1924), also referred to by his initials JPE, or Manong Johnny, is a Filipino politician and lawyer known for his role in the administration of Philippine dicta ...
in 1972. President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
then approved Marcos' martial law move on the rationale that the country was being terrorized by Communists.
Some prominent personalities laid the blame on the
Communist Party of the Philippines
The Communist Party of the Philippines ( fil, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a far-left, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. It is desi ...
(CPP) under
José María Sison
Jose Maria Canlas Sison (February 8, 1939 – December 16, 2022), also known by his nickname Joma, was a Filipino writer and activist who founded the Communist Party of the Philippines and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy – which w ...
.
Jovito Salonga
Jovito "Jovy" Reyes Salonga, KGCR (; June 22, 1920 – March 10, 2016) was a Filipino politician and lawyer, as well as a leading opposition leader during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos from the declaration of martial law in 1972 until the P ...
, in his autobiography, stated his belief that Sison and the CPP were responsible.
New People's Army
The New People's Army ( fil, Bagong Hukbong Bayan), abbreviated NPA or BHB, is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), based primarily in the Philippine countryside. It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aimi ...
defector-turned-
Armed Forces of the Philippines
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The P ...
Brig. General
Victor Corpuz (ret'd) alleged in a 2004 interview that Sison dispatched the cadre who attacked the meeting with a hand grenade.
In the prologue of his 1989 autobiography, Corpus claimed that he was present when some leaders of the CPP discussed the bombing after it took place. In interviews by ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', unnamed former CPP officials alleged that "the (Communist) party leadership planned -- and three operatives carried out -- the attack in an attempt to provoke government repression and push the country to the brink of revolution... Sison had calculated that Marcos could be provoked into cracking down on his opponents, thereby driving thousands of political activists into the underground, the former party officials said. Recruits were urgently needed, they said, to make use of a large influx of weapons and financial aid that China had already agreed to provide." José María Sison has denied these accusations and the CPP has never claimed responsibility for the incident.
Aftermath
![Plaza Miranda NHCP historical marker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Plaza_Miranda_NHCP_historical_marker.jpg)
Assumption of emergency powers by President Marcos
Having blamed communists, Marcos used the bombing to justify his subsequent suspension of the
writ of habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
, an act which would later be seen as a prelude to the declaration of Martial Law more than a year later.
[
]
Radicalization of the moderate opposition
Historians note that Marcos' suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus was the event that forced many members of the moderate opposition, including figures like Edgar Jopson
Edgardo Gil Mirasol Jopson, more popularly known as Edgar Jopson or Edjop (September 1, 1948 – September 21, 1982), was a labor rights activist and active member of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) during the reign of former Presid ...
, to join the ranks of the radicals. In the aftermath of the bombing, Marcos lumped all of the opposition together and referred to them as communists, and many former moderates fled to the mountain encampments of the radical opposition to avoid being arrested by Marcos' forces. Those who became disenchanted with the excesses of the Marcos administration and wanted to join the opposition after 1971 often joined the ranks of the radicals, simply because they represented the only group vocally offering opposition to the Marcos government.
Bearing on the election
In a setback for Marcos' ruling Nacionalista Party
The Nacionalista Party (Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ce ...
, the Liberals took six of the eight contested Senate seats, as well as the Manila mayoralty with then Congressman Ramon Bagatsing
Ramon Delaraga Bagatsing (August 19, 1916 – February 14, 2006) was a Filipino politician. He was the only Filipino of Indian ancestry and person with disability (as an amputee) to serve as Mayor of the City of Manila from 1971 to 1986. Baga ...
defeating the incumbent Antonio Villegas
Antonio de Jesus Villegas (January 9, 1928 – November 16, 1984) was a Filipino mayor of Manila from 1962 to 1971. His term was after the term of Arsenio Lacson as mayor of Manila, and before the period of martial law in the Philippines.
Poli ...
for the mayorship of the country's premiere city.
Commemoration
On August 21, 2002, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...
unveiled a commemorative marker in Plaza Miranda in honor of the nine innocent civilians killed in the blast.
See also
* Assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr.
Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., a former Philippine senator, was assassinated on Sunday, August 21, 1983, on the tarmac of Manila International Airport (now named Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor). A longtime political opponent of Pr ...
* Jovito Salonga
Jovito "Jovy" Reyes Salonga, KGCR (; June 22, 1920 – March 10, 2016) was a Filipino politician and lawyer, as well as a leading opposition leader during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos from the declaration of martial law in 1972 until the P ...
* Ramon Bagatsing
Ramon Delaraga Bagatsing (August 19, 1916 – February 14, 2006) was a Filipino politician. He was the only Filipino of Indian ancestry and person with disability (as an amputee) to serve as Mayor of the City of Manila from 1971 to 1986. Baga ...
* List of terrorist incidents, 1971
* Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties
The Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties (MCCCL) is an advocacy coalition in the Philippines which was first formed under the leadership of Jose W. Diokno in 1971, as a response to the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the w ...
References
{{Cold War
False flag operations
History of the Philippines (1965–1986)
Mass murder in 1971
History of Manila
Crime in Metro Manila
Presidency of Ferdinand Marcos
1971 murders in the Philippines
Explosions in 1971