Reform the Armed Forces Movement

Reform the Armed Forces Movement
Name	Reform the Armed Forces Movement
Native name	RAM
Active	1970s–1989
Ideology	Anti-corruption Anti-communism Civilian rule reformism
Headquarters	Manila
Area	Philippines
Notable commanders	Gregorio Honasan, Ramos, Fidel V.

Reform the Armed Forces Movement was a dissident faction of Philippine military officers that organized in the late 1970s and 1980s to pursue internal Armed Forces of the Philippines reform, oppose perceived abuses under Ferdinand Marcos's martial law regime, and influence national politics through coups and plotted uprisings. The group drew members from units including the Philippine Constabulary, Philippine Army, and Philippine Air Force, and intersected with broader opposition currents including leaders associated with Benigno Aquino Jr., Corazon Aquino, and factions within Kilusang Bagong Lipunan critics. RAM figures engaged with international and domestic actors such as elements tied to United States Department of Defense contacts, CIA-era veterans, and Philippine civil society networks.

Background and Origins

RAM emerged amid crises linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines insurgency and the political fallout of the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing, the declaration of Proclamation No. 1081, and the controversial handling of economic and human-rights issues during the Marcos administration. Its founding officers were influenced by reforms advocated in contexts like the Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command debates, critiques from figures associated with Aquino, Benigno's allies, and experiences in counterinsurgency operations such as campaigns against the New People's Army. The movement's organizational roots were shaped by networks formed at the Philippine Military Academy, exchanges with officers involved in the Laureta-Juico era controversies, and professional ties to units deployed in Mindanao and the Visayas.

Leadership and Key Figures

Prominent officers associated with RAM included Gregorio Honasan, who became publicly identified with coup attempts and later political candidacy; Fidel V. Ramos, who had a complex relationship with RAM and later became President; and other mid-ranking officers schooled at the Philippine Military Academy, some of whom later featured in events involving Ramos coup attempts and the 1989 coup d'état attempt in the Philippines. RAM’s personnel roster intersected with figures involved in the 1986 Philippine presidential election, activists from Lakas–NUCD, and military actors who later held posts in the Armed Forces of the Philippines Research and Development Service. The network also connected informally with civilian opposition leaders such as Ninoy Aquino supporters and bureaucrats aligned with Cory Aquino after 1986.

Political Objectives and Ideology

RAM espoused objectives framed around institutional reform of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, anti-corruption measures targeting the Marcos circle, and advocacy for a return to constitutional rule consistent with critics of Proclamation No. 1081. Its rhetoric invoked counterinsurgency doctrine used during campaigns against the New People's Army while claiming allegiance to constitutionalism championed by personalities like Benigno Aquino Jr. and later Corazon Aquino. The faction’s ideology combined professionalist concerns rooted in Philippine Military Academy training with political aims that intersected with United States–Philippines relations, debates over bases in the Philippines, and disputes involving the Commission on Human Rights (Philippines).

Major Actions and Events

RAM members were implicated in multiple coup plots, including aborted uprisings during the late Marcos period and the series of post-1986 coup attempts that culminated in violent engagements such as the 1989 coup d'état attempt in the Philippines. Operations tied to RAM included coordination with dissident units inside installations like Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame, planning phases that referenced lessons from international coups studied in military curricula, and attempts to seize key assets including Malacañang Palace and broadcast stations used in the People Power Revolution. Several incidents overlapped with contemporaneous events involving Philippine National Police leadership contests, mutinies led by other commanders, and confrontations with forces loyal to Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and later Corazon Aquino.

Relationship with the 1986 People Power Revolution

RAM’s relationship to the People Power Revolution was complex: some officers sympathetic to RAM participated in the unfolding events that led to Marcos’s exile and the ascension of Corazon Aquino, while other RAM elements pursued independent coup plots before and after February 1986. Key interactions involved coordination—or sometimes rivalry—with figures close to Ninoy Aquino’s movement, negotiations with civilian leaders like Salvador Laurel, and tactical engagement at sites such as Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame where rebel commanders and loyalist officers confronted each other. The revolution’s success reshaped RAM’s strategic options, propelling members into both governmental roles and oppositional conspiracies in the new political configuration under Aquino administration.

Government Response and Legal Consequences

Successive administrations responded with a mix of prosecutions, amnesties, courts-martial, and reintegration offers. High-profile legal actions included trials in Sandiganbayan-related anti-corruption inquiries, military tribunals within the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and executive decisions on clemency linked to political settlements. Some RAM officers faced imprisonment, exile, or political marginalization; others were later incorporated into official institutions such as the Department of National Defense and civilian agencies during administrations including Ramos administration and subsequent cabinets.

Legacy and Historical Assessment

Historians and analysts assess RAM as both a catalyst for reformist pressure inside the Armed Forces of the Philippines and a recurrent source of political instability in the post-Marcos era. Scholarship situates RAM within broader studies of civil-military relations found in works on Philippine political history, analyses of the People Power Revolution, and comparative accounts involving coups d'état in Southeast Asia. Debates continue over RAM’s contribution to democratization versus its role in undermining civilian rule, with legacies visible in debates over military reform, veteran politics, and the careers of figures who transitioned from military to civilian leadership such as Fidel V. Ramos and Gregorio Honasan.

Category:History of the Philippines