People power remembered
Was it all for nothing? The question is being asked as the nation begins today the commemoration of the four-day people power revolt against a dictatorship, with Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ensconced in Malacañang.
Disappointed people are blaming disinformation and historical revisionism during the 2022 campaign for the dramatic return to power of the Marcoses. Imelda Marcos is again celebrating her birthday at Malacañang, while martial law architect Juan Ponce Enrile, still looking spry at 99 years old, is now the chief presidential legal counsel while out on bail on a plunder case.
There has to be more, however, to the Marcoses’ political comeback than what his opponents decry as information manipulation on social media. Marcos Junior won the presidency by the largest margin ever, and surveys indicate continuing high public approval of his performance in office. His victory must have answered a need of the millions who voted for him.
It would be folly, however, to set aside the significance of the people power revolt and what was achieved, which was a culmination of years of struggle against an oppressive and corrupt regime. The oppression and corruption are documented – with hundreds of millions of dollars officially declared as ill-gotten wealth and recovered by the Philippine government – and cannot be rewritten out of history books or revised in movies.
Despite the documented offenses under authoritarian rule, 31.6 million Filipinos chose in democratic elections to return the Marcoses to power. But the 15 million who picked the candidate of the groups associated with people power, plus over 7.1 million more who went for the eight other candidates, cannot be deemed insignificant.
The democracy that was restored in February 1986, although still institutionally weak, has also not been rolled back. The new Marcos administration has promised to be a much improved version of the original. President Marcos has made no secret of wanting to rehabilitate the family name and his father’s image. So far, he has shown no indication of following in the footsteps of his father when it comes to governing with an iron fist.
What the past 37 years have shown is how fragile democracy can be, and how it needs vigilance and constant nurturing. The remembrance of people power, culminating on Feb. 25, also highlights the challenges in nation building. The heavy lifting does not end when the street protests disperse.