Edsa: 1986 and beyond

Ehem..Madam Cory,matagal na po kaming nagsasakripisyo. Kayo po ba? ano po ba ang naisakripisyo ninyo? Pahingi naman ng lupa sa Luisita, kahit lupa sa paso lang!

Edsa is nothing more than a memory…Edsa was never a revolution. For it to be called a revolution, it must be followed by deep reforms in all facets of the society. Economic, Cultural, Political, etc. But all Edsa did was to bring chaos when there was none, to allow the rich keep the poor uneducated, to bring into power corrupt officials, to highlight everything that is rotten in this society and make it the norms. What we are feeling today are the effects and consequences of the events that transpired in Edsa 21 years ago.

For me, it is not right to celebrate something that has not brought anything good for the country.

The Filipino people cannot blame anybody but themselves. For Edsa was the best chance that this country can right itself and create its own identity. After hundreds of years of being colonized and subjugated both by foreigners and local traitors, it was the best opportunity for this race to impose itself and remove these influences. Instead, what did we do? After Marcos fled, we left evrything to the likes of Sin, Cory, Ramos, etc. I think that was the biggest mistake we ever did for, in my opinion, there will never be a second Edsa. There will never be another Edsa, where anything happened in a peaceful manner. Yes, I think there will be another chance, but it will not be like Edsa.

EDSA is a commemoration of the power of the people. Any leaders should not underestimate the power of it. It’s not just happened in our country but it was even a model for the oppressed democracy in other countries. Therefore it is a lesson that all of us who will oppress again by any leader to stand and fight.

These days the true meaning of EDSA is no longer “worth fighting for”, why? bec. some of us are now allowing to ruin the spirit of it, the real meaning of democracy. We should all remember the tyranny of the past, the will of the people to unite whenever our freedom is at stake. If only for their own prestige, of the few greed leaders then, we will not succeed and move our country forward. We should watch, participate and fight the process of clean and good governance. The problem is that our current leader is again ruining it down. Are we going to wait again until “Juan dela Cruz” feel the pain and succumb to this present anarchy?

The 1986 “People Power Revolution” is a very remarkable phenomenon, not only throughout the Philippine history, but also with the world history. Nowhere in this planet, in the past centuries, was such similar exercise shown by any nation. It was a thrilling experience, with lots of indescribable emotions. Many were astonished that such a “peaceful” exercise would overthrow a strongman President from his position. Peaceful, meaning no guns were fired to unseat him. The whole stretch of EDSA was filled with festive scenery and moods. None such event was in the country for the past decade due to suppression of martial law. And now given a chance, everybody was enthusiastic to participate in this one-chance-in-a-lifetime event. In fact, many are at EDSA not because they wanted to unseat a strong leader. It was what everybody was doing. It would be very ridiculous to interpret that Filipinos at that time were politically mature, given the setting of oppression of information about national concerns, with some of the events in Philippine history revised to favor the incumbent, opposition leaders being jailed and assassinated, news being reformatted so it would not “destroy the country’s image”. It can be safely deduced that Filipinos at that time were politically naive. But still, it would be unreasonable not to accept the fact that majority of the mood was anti-Marcos, due to slow down of economy in which the common Filipino would feel as increased in prices of basic commodities.

But who were in front of the political stage? Marcos family and cronies dominating the scenes and all the political scripts, vs. their political foes being oppressed, jailed, silenced, and seeking political asylum with the United States (some, after shouting anti-US-Marcos regime in the streets). It was a battle of positions, the anti-US-Marcos regime claiming they were at the side of the masses, while in fact it was their own interests, their properties, business interests and positions they were fighting for. The common Filipino was just watching uninterestingly, not knowing these events affected his living. Campaigns for the coming snap elections were filled with anti-Marcos issues, with the forefront of Benigno Aquino’s assassination, high inflation and unemployment rates, devaluation of peso and increasing poverty. Dominating mood, of course, is the spirit of “antis” as the common Filipino attitude of “kontrabida” prevailed, with economic concerns at stake. Another attitude of “maawain” came, as the widow of the oppressed and assassinated, Ninoy, became the opponent of the strongman for the presidency. Of course, not to forget the position of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, everything was in favor of the “antis”.

What sparked the spread of the “anti” mood was the obvious manipulation of the result of the election. The Filipino, in his small capacity, would not want his right, his right for suffrage, be trampled down. Still, Filipinos at that time were immature politically and did not know what to do. After the election, the Marcos’ characters in the political stage were replaced by their enemies, and the viewers were enjoying. Not only that Marcos’ characters were replaced, the viewers were encouraged to join the stage and participate with the story. The people enjoying the events, festivities were everywhere, emotions were very high. And the main “antis” were very happy. Their “talent fees” would be paid. They would finally regain their position. The viewers who joined the story would get what? Freedom? This was the word shouted by the “antis” as the “prize” for participating. And the common Filipino accepted it. And that was their mistake.

Who became free? Filipinos? From what? Everybody could buy what he wanted as long as he could afford; no restrictions from the government. Anyone could travel from Batanes to Jolo without interference from the police or the army. Anyone could send their kids to whatever school they wanted, as long as they can pay the tuition fees. What freedom was being talked about? Freedom to criticize the government. That was the freedom the “antis” were after. It was not the concern of the common Filipino. The concern of the common Filipino was economic freedom. Was that given after the so called “People Power Revolution”? Further pages of the history will tell.