Historic DND room turned into museum for EDSA anniversary

The room where top defense and military officials announced their withdrawal of support from President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 has been turned into a mini-museum for the 25th anniversary of EDSA People Power revolution on Feb. 25. “We are inaugurating it for the EDSA celebrations. After all, it’s the 25th year, silver jubilee. We put importance on this event for the specific milestone," said Eduardo Batac, spokesman of the Department of National Defense (DND) on Monday. The museum, which used to be the DND’s conference room, is situated on the third floor of the four-storey DND building inside Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. The museum will be inaugurated Tuesday afternoon by President Benigno Aquino III, whose mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, rose to power following the historic EDSA event. Expected to join Aquino are key EDSA figures including Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (then Defense minister), former President Fidel Ramos (then Armed Forces vice chief of staff), and Sen. Gringo Honasan (then an Army colonel). Honasan was one of the leaders of the Reformed the Armed Forces Movement (now the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa) that played a role in the 1986 revolt, although he eventually led a series of unsuccessful coups against Mrs. Aquino. Other key members of RAM may attend the inauguration of the museum, Batac told reporters. Batac said the main feature of the mini-museum is a photo showing the group of Enrile and Ramos when they were about to withdraw their support from Marcos on Feb. 22, 1986, three days before Marcos was dethroned. “The main picture at the mini-museum was the photo of the conference that was held to discuss and decide on withdrawal of support from the Marcos regime. That [was] where the televised announcement was made," he said. Batac said the chairs and the long table used by the group will also be featured in the mini-museum, along with the microphones, the blue t-shirt worn by Ramos at that time, Enrile’s jacket, Honasan’s boots, and the image of Virgin Mary used in the revolt. The mini-museum, however, may not be open to the public, Batac said. — KBK, GMA News