EDSA spirit can lead to drug-free Philippines
“Those four days in 1986 gave the Philippines one of its proudest moments as international headlines bannered the ‘bloodless revolution that surprised the world’ and honored the courage of common folks …” — Former Senator Joey Lina, Manila Bulletin, 28 February 2017
THIS week, in the aftermath of the fragmented commemoration of our peaceful 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution 31 years ago, let us capsulize various expert perspectives published in major broadsheets that reflect the growing disunity of the Filipino people early in the P.Du30 administration. This approach is, of course, the easier way to meet a column deadline (which FVR has not missed since writing for the MB 12 years ago). Surely, FVR may be forgiven for this uncharacteristic approach – he had to undergo two important health procedures yesterday – a cataract implant at the American Eye Center and new dentures at the Asian Hospital. So, here goes:
“BADLY DIVIDED – We are, indeed, a country divided. Good economic fundamentals notwithstanding, our deepening societal divisions will, in due time, undermine our economic prospects and our people’s general welfare…” – Dr. Cielito Habito, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 28 February.
“DOES EDSA STILL MATTER? – Of course, it does. It was an exercise in freedom and democracy that was a tribute to humanity and its basic desire to live free from the shackles of totalitarian rule. EDSA showed the world that a peaceful revolution is doable.’…” – Joanne Rae M. Ramirez, The Philippine Star, 23 February.
“DUTERTE NOT ATTENDING EDSA CELEBRATION – President Duterte won’t be attending the 31st anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution on 24 February…” – Argyll Cyrus Geducos, Manila Bulletin, 23 February.
“AN EMPOWERING EDSA – Let’s celebrate an EDSA that empowers the poor and empowers women, an EDSA that says ‘No’ to violence and dictatorial rule…” – Rina Jimenez-David, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 24 February.
“SHINING MOMENT IN LIVING HISTORY – The greatest loss to our posterity is our failure to impart the values of transcendent events to those who now bear the torch of leadership and to younger generations. For us present-day Filipinos our first duty to our beloved Philippines is not to take our freedom for granted, but to defend our liberties against any tyrant…” – Ambeth Ocampo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 24 February.
“EDSA 1986: THE REVOLUTION THAT WASN’T – Thirty-one years after EDSA, the same problems continue to afflict Philippine society. EDSA was an opportunity missed…” – Luis Teodoro, Business World, 24-25 February.
“WHY IS DU30 SO AFRAID OF EDSA? – EDSA-I was one event that left our people in utter awe of what they could achieve without resorting to or enduring violence…” – Former Senator Francisco Tatad, The Manila Times, 24 February.
“FILIPINOS’ FINEST HOUR: PEOPLE POWER – Civilians protected the military at EDSA in February, 1986. Not since several hundred thousand Filipino guerrillas in World War II – possibly the world’s largest resistance movement at that time – had the Filipino people shown such disregard for danger…” – Joan Orendain, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 25 February.
“BEYOND THE REVOLT – The best tribute to those historic four days in February, 1986, is to make freedom work for the greatest number of Filipinos…” – Editorial, The Philippine Star, 25 February.
“TODAY’S YOUTH URGED TO CONTINUE NARRATIVE OF MARTIAL LAW HISTORY – Primitivo Mijares’ youngest grandson, 19-year-old Jose Christopher ‘JC’ Mijares Gurango, the primary force behind the relaunch of ‘The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos’, said …. In schools, either martial law was not discussed or was discussed in such a way that it was ‘debatable’ whether it was good or bad… His grandfather’s book was crucial as an insider’s account of the dictator’s excesses…” – Jaymee Gamil, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 23 February.
“ABERRATIONS ARE ERASED, NOT CELEBRATED – The EDSA revolt was a victory of the people who turned out in droves to defend a mutiny against Marcos led by then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and Philippine Constabulary Chief FVR…” – Editorial, Daily Tribune, 26 February.
“A THREATENED DEMOCRACY – Last 25 February was a show of two forces: the yellow revolution and the black revolution -- one in EDSA, the other in Luneta. Were they able to stage another People Power Revolution or a ‘kili-kili’ power revolution?…” – Sara Soliven de Guzman, The Philippine Star, 27 February.
“DEMOCRACY, JUSTICE, FREEDOM EDSA’S PRECIOUS LEGACY – ‘The Spirit of EDSA compels our unswerving opposition to injustice, greed, corruption, and complacency,’ FVR said. In their hearts, the multitudes at EDSA in February 1986 offered their lives to God for our country’s well-being. From our shared experience came a renewed sense of unity, solidarity and teamwork that we wish we could recapture permanently…” – Ben Rosario, Manila Bulletin, 24 February.
“REFLECTING ON EDSA – In the history of every modern democracy, the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution stands out as the most astonishing, not only because it removed without bloodshed a cruel dictator, but also because it has at least healed the Filipino nation’s broken soul…” – Christopher Ryan Maboloc, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 27 February.
“EDSA’S EMBERS – Last 24 February, the EDSA People Power was celebrated inside Camp Aguinaldo away from EDSA as the Duterte Administration did not want to inconvenience the riding public. I think it was more to remove the memory of EDSA from the mainstream of public consciousness as Malacañang advised all to ‘move on, forget the past’…” – Melito Salazar, Manila Bulletin, 27 February.
“THE FIGHT NEVER ENDS – The fight for genuine change, good governance, and responsible citizenship never ends. Each one of the 105 million Filipinos will have to give his/her share of good deeds and sacrifices for our peace and prosperity. We don’t need another EDSA to unite for the country. The fight goes on!” – Tita Valderama, Manila Times, 27 February.
ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE PHILIPPINE STAR, PROBABLY SAID IT BEST IN TERMS OF STRATEGIC BEST OUTCOMES IN HER COLUMN “TEAM PHILIPPINES” (01 MARCH), THUS: “RODRIGO DUTERTE IS NO LONGER A CITY MAYOR BUT THE PRESIDENT OF OUR REPUBLIC. HE REPRESENTS EVERY FILIPINO, AND NOT JUST HIS DIEHARD SUPPORTERS.
“THE WINNER MUST REACH OUT TO EVERYONE, IF HE TRULY WANTS NATIONAL UNITY, AS PRESIDENT DUTERTE SAID IN HIS MESSAGE FOR THE EDSA ANNIVERSARY.
“FIDEL RAMOS ADOPTED THE BEST THEME FOR A PRESIDENT OF THIS FRACTIOUS NATION: ‘WE’RE A TEAM, AND THERE’S STRENGTH IN UNITY.’ THE CONCEPT OF A NATION BEHAVING AS A TEAM IS ONE THAT DESERVES NURTURING.
“A PRESIDENT WHO HAS A NATION UNITED BEHIND CERTAIN COMMON GOALS NEED NOT WORRY ABOUT DISSENTING VIEWS. A PRESIDENT MUST BE THE RALLYING POINT, LEADING BY EXAMPLE WITH A CAN-DO ATTITUDE…”
BY THE WAY, FVR DID “THE JUMP” AT CAMP AGUINALDO, AND PUSH-UPS, CRUNCHES, AND TWO JUMPS AT THE U.P. TOWN CENTER, DILIMAN BOTH ON 24 FEBRUARY. (SEE FACEBOOK)
*** Let’s remember a personal friend, an influential American educator who was as good a partner of the Philippines as any expat. (Extract from The Washington Post, 23 February):
In Memoriam: Professor W. Scott Thompson – a member of both Ford and Reagan administrations and professor emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University – suffered a heart attack and died 19 February 2017 at his home in Batangas, beside Lake Taal, Philippines. He was 75.
A graduate of Phillips Andover Academy and Stanford University, he was a Rhodes Scholar and Danforth Fellow at Oxford University. Dr. Thompson authored and edited numerous books and articles on foreign policy and governance, including one co-authored with
his son Nicholas, “The Baobab and the Mango Tree: African and Asian Contrasts.”
He was an assistant to the secretary of defense in 1975-1976 as a White House fellow, and later served in the reagan Administration as associate director, US Information Agency, from 1982 to 1984.
He was also advisor to two Filipino presidents, its National Security Council, and four Filipino cabinet members, and has resided in the Philippines since the late 1990s. He published several analyses of Philippine and Thai relations with the United States. His most recent book, “Trustee of the Nation: The
Biography of Fidel V. Ramos,” was a widely acclaimed examination of the Philippine government as well as of President Ramos himself.
Professor Thompson was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and International Institute for Strategic Studies, and was a Founding Member of the Committee on the Present Danger in 1976.
He was known for his warmth of friendship and took on projects with gusto – whether creating gardens, keeping up with voluminous correspondence, critiquing dissertations, or listening to every Bach composition.
He is survived by three children – Phyllis Thompson of Boston, Nicholas Thompson of San Francisco and New York, and Heidi Thompson Saunders of Chicago – and seven grandchildren.
Funeral services were held in the Philippines, and a memorial service and gathering of his friends is planned this spring in Washington, DC – when the azaleas are blooming.