Retired Navy commodore, RAM leader Rex Robles dies at 75

Rex Robles

MANILA, Philippines — Retired Navy Commodore Rex Robles, who was part of a group of rebel soldiers that plotted to overthrow the Marcos dictatorship in its twilight years, died of cardiac arrest on Sunday morning. He was 75.

A member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1965, Robles was among the leaders of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), alongside then Army Scout Ranger Col. Gregorio Honasan II, which arose in the early 1980s seeking reforms in a military organization then dominated by loyalists of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

By 1983, he was part of the 11-man temporary steering committee that the RAM formed to “give direction” to the military and analyze current events, such as the implications of the assassination of Marcos’ political rival, former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.

Robles later disclosed in a 1989 radio interview that the RAM had originally planned to launch the coup against Marcos in December 1985 but deferred it for the summer of 1986 after presidential elections were suddenly called.

The ensuing massive poll fraud prompted the movement to stage the coup ahead of schedule. The Marcos regime, however, uncovered the plot, forcing the RAM to dig in at Camp Aguinaldo and appeal for popular support.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution that toppled the dictatorship, Robles was involved in at least two coup attempts against President Corazon Aquino. He was detained, but charges against him were dropped and he was released after nine months.

In a two-part article on the role of the United States in the Edsa revolution, which he wrote for the Inquirer in 2016, Robles said: “Perhaps the question is not whether Edsa can happen again but, whether we can improve on what we have so far accomplished and, for better or for worse (like it or not), we move forward with the Americans always in.”

Fact-finding commission

He later expressed admiration for Mrs. Aquino’s courage in resisting several attempts to overthrow her administration.

Robles took part in the fact-finding commission led by retired Supreme Court Justice Florentino Feliciano that investigated the July 27, 2003, Oakwood Hotel mutiny led by the Magdalo military faction against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In 2017, Robles and other RAM leaders sought amnesty for the reinstatement of their back pay and other benefits. A year later, he was named one of the 25 members of a presidential consultative committee on Charter change headed by retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno.

Sources: Inquirer Archives, officialgazette.gov.ph