EDSA III

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EDSA TRES

- The May 1 riots or EDSA Tres was a protest sparked by the arrest
in April 2001 of newly deposed President Joseph Estrada of the
Philippines.

- The protest was held for seven days in a major highway in

Metropolitan Manila, EDSA, which eventually culminated in an
attempt to attack the Malacaang presidential palace.

- Taking place, four months after EDSA Revolution of 2001, the

protests were
asserted as a more populist and representative uprising in
comparison to the
previous demonstrations in the same location, in January
2001.
- The protests and the attack on the presidential palace,

- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has

acknowledged the divisive nature of the two
terminologies by saying in one statement that she
hoped to be the president of "EDSA II and EDSA III."

APRIL 30
The crowd of an alleged several hundred thousand
people (although according to Eagle Broadcasting
Corporation-owned broadcast network Net 25 and to
Senator Sotto, a high of over 3 million in the evening of
April 30),

- Most of whom were members of the urban poor and

devotees of the
Iglesia ni Cristo which institutionally supported Estrada,
gathered at
the Roman Catholic EDSA Shrine, the site of the
January EDSA II revolt
which had toppled Estrada from the presidency.
- News organizations aiming to cover the rally were
advised not
approach the area, as there were reports of stones

- The protest was led by members of the political

opposition of the
time, most notably Senators Juan Ponce Enrile,
Miriam Defensor

- The rebellion aimed to remove Gloria MacapagalArroyo from the presidency and to reinstate
Estrada. The rebellion came to a head on the
morning of May 1, 2001 most of the people left
specially the Iglesia ni Cristo members as an
agreement of their leaders and the government .
- Still hundreds of thousands of protesters stormed
towards Malacaang Palace
- Government soldiers and the policemen dispersed
the marchers, causing violence.

President Arroyo declared a State of Rebellion in

the National Capital Region pursuant to
Proclamation No. 38 and arrested leaders who
participated in the said rebellion like Senator Juan
Ponce Enrile but released on bail. On May 7, 2001,
President Arroyo lifted the State of Rebellion.

Hours after the crowds of EDSA III were dispersed,

representatives of the Archdiocese of Manila and
Civil Society supporters of the Arroyo
administration reclaimed the EDSA Shrine where
there had been alleged acts of vandalism and
garbage everywhere and the vicinity reeked with
the strong smell of human waste.
Supporters of Edsa Tres journalism allege that
EDSA's I and II's participants were made up of the
middle and upper classes and thus, not
democratically-representative unlike those who

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