On (re) writing history
People Power, revisionism, and problematic memories
February 25 is an unforgettable day in Philippine history— or, at least, it should be. For many, it was a new beginning. For others, it was the end of a new society.
But regardless of where you stand on the blurry lines of the country’s political spectrum, the fact remains: The EDSA People Power Revolution (or EDSA I) changed the course of Philippine history—for better and worse, some might argue.
For an event that has been written about so many times now, it is quite surprising how it still becomes a subject of what people call revisionism. Sure, many events in Philippine history need to be re-examined, but that mostly applies to those that happened hundreds of years ago, when sources were scarce and much of what we have are chronicles written by foreigners.
This isn’t the case with the People Power Revolution. There are many who lived through this moment in history, those who were among the crowds who gathered along what used to be Highway 54. But it is also the same reason why, for better or worse, this important episode in Philippine history is the subject of much revisionism.
Some details, like what Sol Jose Vanzi wrote in an article that appeared on the pages of the Manila Bulletin last Monday, are new. But details like these do not change the general tone of history. They simply add more color to it, more nuances to the story.
Revisionism happens when what was previously on record, appearing in dozens of interviews in all manner of media, from print to radio to TV, are changed in some new biography or another. See, in historiography or the writing of history, there is an unspoken rule about how sources written and published closer to when an event happened are more reliable. One example is an account of the People Power Revolution written by Pulitzer Prize winner Lewis M. Simons titled Worth Dying For. The title comes from the famous words spoken by Benigno Aquino, Jr., one of the staunchest critics of then President Ferdinand Marcos.
But Simons’ book, published in 1987, was not all about Ninoy. Nor was it about Cory. It was about the various individuals who participated in the People Power Revolution and the days leading up to it, with interviews from leading figures like Juan Ponce
Enrile, Fidel V. Ramos, Gregorio Honasan, and even Jaime
Cardinal Sin. It also includes accounts from people who weren’t in the limelight, ordinary individuals who participated in the almost-bloodless revolution in some way and whose names may no longer be familiar to many.
Years later, some of these personalities would revise what they said in Simons’ book. For students of history, this “changing” of statements is problematic. Why would one revise something put on record earlier—in this case, their statements about People Power? There is no reason to assume that these earlier statements were incorrect. There is more reason to be wary about recollections made years later. Memory is a tricky thing.
No matter what people say, nothing can change the fact that the EDSA People Power Revolution happened. And it is an event that deserves to be celebrated or, at least observed. Never mind what happened after. That’s for a different discussion.
Also, contrary to what some insinuate, it wasn’t about the Marcoses and the Aquinos. To a certain extent, many people are wary about celebrating People Power because of how much it was used (and abused) during the previous administration. Yes, it toppled the authoritarian government of Ferdinand Marcos, but it wasn’t the Aquinos who made it happen. The people made it happen.
EDSA I has its place in history because—and this might sound like a cliché—it was a moment when Filipinos from all walks of life came together to fight for the nation. Sadly, it was a phenomenon that has rarely happened again since those four days in 1986. Those days definitely aren’t something we should forget.
Identity is the history that has gone into bone and blood and reshaped the flesh. Identity is not what we were but what we have become, what we are at this moment. —Nick Joaquin