Enrile and Edsa 1

USUALLY nonchalant about the subject matter, Juan Ponce Enrile was in a surprisingly revelatory mood to tell the public what his sentiments are about the 1986 Edsa People Power revolt, whose annual official anniversary every February 25 he has been snubbing until last week.

At the wreath-laying rites at the Libingan ng mga Bayani last February 22, Enrile, Marcos’s former defense minister and now the Senate President, lamented how the role of soldiers “seemed to have been forgotten, their idealism ignored, and even their heroic contribution belittled” in the past 23 years that the four-day revolt had been commemorated.

Saying he hasn’t been at ease with being paraded as an Edsa hero, he instead paid tribute to the soldiers in Edsa, particularly those behind the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM, since renamed Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa), who “never asked for any reward, recognition, much less power. All they asked from the new leaders then was real reform and good government.”

As for his own pains, Enrile said he’d rather have these all to himself — “best left in my heart and for history to judge beyond my time.”

Back in 2006 when the PCIJ interviewed Enrile on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the first People Power uprising, the senator was even more than candid with his thoughts and views. For instance, he admitted to have long been disillusioned with what became of Edsa 1 as it has been “converted into a cultist effort to mystify and sanctify certain persons.”

Though he declined to say he regretted turning over power to former President Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquno in 1986, he did say that he’d “probably not make people (who are unprepared) handle power” if he had to do it all over again.

Crediting the military more than the civilian mass movement for the ouster of Marcos, Enrile believed their failed attempt to take over power would have succeeded even if the people had not come to Camp Aguinaldo where he decided to make their last stand. “In the evening of Monday (February 24), we were already sure that we had the force to drive Marcos out. We had already the Air Force.”

To further prove his point, Enrile cited Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s continued stay in power despite her unpopularity and protests led by no less than Cory Aquino. “(It) disproves the myth created after EDSA Uno that the one that made Cory Aquino president was actually People Power.”

Listen to the Enrile interview again. Read also the accompanying i Report feature.