Philippines celebrates 30th anniversary of revolution

The Philippines has marked the 30th anniversary of the 1986 revolution that ended the 20-year rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

President Benigno Aquino III attended a ceremony on Thursday, along with other officials at the People Power Monument in Quezon City, north of the capital Manila.

Officials and bystanders sang the national anthem as the Philippine flag was raised near the monument.

Former dictator Marcos was toppled in 1986’s EDSA Revolution, or the People Power Revolution, after alleged cheating in the presidential election.

He fled the Philippines at the climax of the army-backed revolt and died in exile in Hawaii in 1989. His body was returned in 1993 to his northern hometown of Batac in Ilocos Norte province, where it has been displayed in a glass coffin and has become a tourist attraction.

Aquino III, who won with a landslide margin on a promise to battle poverty and corruption in 2010, ends his six–year presidential term in June.