View source for September 1984 Welcome Rotonda protest dispersal

{{Use Philippine English|date=April 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
The '''September 1984 Welcome Rotonda protest dispersal''' was a landmark incident which happened on September 27, 1984, near the end of the [[Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos|administration of Ferdinand Marcos]], in which pro-Marcos forces hosed down and fired tear gas on several thousand<ref name="Quimpo">{{Cite book |title=Subversive lives : a family memoir of the Marcos years |last=Quimpo |first=Susan F. |publisher=Ohio University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-89680-495-1 |edition=First Ohio University Press |location=Athens |oclc=954735081}}</ref> peaceful protesters gathered at [[Welcome Rotonda]], a roundabout on the border between the [[City of Manila]] and [[Quezon City]]. They also fired into the crowd. Student leader [[Fidel Nemenzo]] was shot in the back, eventually recovering from the M-16 bullet that hit his liver, diaphragm and lungs. <ref name="MB">{{Cite news|url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2016/11/19/they-are-scared-martial-law-victim-says-of-surprise-marcos-burial|title='They are scared,' Martial law victim says of surprise Marcos burial|work=Manila Bulletin}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/184586-lorenzo-tanada-undaunted-line-of-fire | title=Lorenzo Tañada undaunted in line of fire | date=October 8, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="CesM16">{{Cite news |last=Oreña-Drilon |first=Ces |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/02/29/20/the-m-16-bullet-that-changed-fidel-nemenzos-life |title=The M-16 bullet that changed Fidel Nemenzo's life |date=February 29, 2020 |work=ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs |access-date=March 2, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229150137/https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/02/29/20/the-m-16-bullet-that-changed-fidel-nemenzos-life |archive-date=February 29, 2020}}</ref>
The protesters included 80-year-old former Senator [[Lorenzo Tañada]] and 71-year old [[Manila Times]] founder [[Chino Roces]]. Images of the event showing the two seniors struggling against the waterhosing and teargas unleashed by the pro-Marcos forces were published in Mosquito press publications such as Malaya and [[WE Forum]], and quickly became iconic. This led to a further decline in support for Ferdinand Marcos, who was already losing significant support in the wake of assassination of Benigno Aquino the year before.<ref>Chua, Michael Charleston B. (2012) Haring Bayan: Democracy and People Power in the Philippines, in “For Democracy and Human Rights: Rekindling the Lessons of Martial Law and the People Power Revolution” (Discussion Papers for the 40th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Martial Law (Never Again, Remembering Martial Law @ 40).” Quezon City: Center for Youth Networking and Advocacy and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.</ref>
Many of the protesters prominently featured in the photo coverage would later become prominent civil society leaders and government officials. Aside from Lorenzo Tanada, Chino Roces, and [[Fidel Nemenzo]] (former Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman), intellectuals, opposition leaders, artists, and journalists who participated in the rally included:<ref name="kristine">{{Cite news|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/847952/look-photographer-shares-dramatic-images-from-1984-anti-marcos-protest|title=LOOK: Photographer shares dramatic images from anti-Marcos protests|first=Kristine Angeli|last=Sabillo|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}}</ref><ref name="tingting">{{Cite news|url=https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/sunday-life/2004/09/26/265362/love-freedom|title=For the love of freedom|first=Tingting|last=Cojuangco|work=The Philippine Star}}</ref>
* Tañada's son (and later senator) [[Wigberto Tañada]],
* Constitutional Convention delegate (and later Philippine Vice President) [[Teofisto Guingona]],
* human rights lawyer (and later senator) [[Rene Saguisag]],
* August Twenty One Movement (ATOM) and Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (BANDILA) founder (and later Senator) [[Butz Aquino]],
* human rights activist [[Ed Garcia]],
* later [[Tarlac]] Governor [[Tingting Cojuangco]],
* [[WE Forum]] photographer Lito Ocampo,
* activist and writer [[Susan Quimpo]],
* Cebuana radio commentator Nenita Cortes-Daluz; and
* film director [[Behn Cervantes]].
== See also ==
* [[Welcome Rotonda]]
* [[Bantayog ng mga Bayani]]
* [[Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties]]
* [[1974 Sacred Heart Novitiate raid]]
* [[1986 People Power Revolution]]
== References ==
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{{Martial EDSA |state=expanded}}
[[Category:History of the Philippines (1986–present)]]
[[Category:1984 in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Manila during the Marcos dictatorship]]
[[Category:History of Metro Manila]]
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