There is something uncanny about August 21 in Philippine history. Three pivotal events took place on this date, each profoundly altering the country’s political and social trajectory.

On August 21, 1901, the SS Thomas arrived in Manila carrying nearly 500 American teachers. Known collectively as the Thomasites, they were sent across the archipelago to teach English and introduce American educational and cultural institutions. Their arrival helped establish the Philippine public school system—and made education a powerful instrument of American colonial rule, helping displace Spanish influence and consolidate the new colonial order.

Seventy years later, on August 21, 1971, two grenades exploded during the Liberal Party’s miting de avance at Plaza Miranda, killing and wounding civilians and seriously injuring opposition leaders including Senators Jovito Salonga, Gerry Roxas, and Eva Estrada-Kalaw.

The bombing became a watershed in the country’s slide toward authoritarianism. The Marcos administration blamed communist forces, while the opposition accused Marcos of orchestrating the attack. Decades later, some cadres of the Communist Party of the Philippines revealed the party’s involvement. The bombing was followed by Marcos’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and, a year later, the declaration of martial law.

Then came August 21, 1983.

Opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., returning after three years of exile in the United States, was assassinated at the Manila International Airport. His death galvanized public outrage and transformed resistance to the Marcos regime into a mass movement.

Three years later, the EDSA People Power Revolution brought the Marcos dictatorship to an end.

Three August 21s. Three turning points.

One marked the consolidation of a new colonial power. Another foreshadowed the death of Philippine democracy. The third became the spark that helped awaken a nation against dictatorship.

For Filipinos in the diaspora, August 21 is more than a date to remember. It is a reminder that the Philippines we know today was shaped by moments of profound disruption—and by generations of Filipinos who responded to those moments with resistance, courage, and an insistence that the country’s future could be different from its past.

To learn more about these three events, see our Read It Again stories below.

But first our lineup of new stories for this week:

Overseas Filipino Achievers, Part 7 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

When the AFAM Was Me by Maria Antonia Bosa Van Espen-Boonen

Riding to Save: An OFW’s Scooter Life in Dubai by Michael G. Lucero

From Small-Town Rotunda to Big-Time Rialto by Trish Muyco-Tobin

[Read It Again]

The Thomasites, America’s First ‘Peace Corps’ Volunteers by US-Philippines Society

August 21 Stories
The Ghosts of Plaza Miranda by Gregg Jones
August 21, 1971: A Testament to My Immaturity by Mila D. Aguilar

Ninoy's Final Journey by Ken Kashiwahara

[Video of the Week]

Mountain of Youth