Becoming people power people
I t’s been 30 years since EDSA and to the majority of young Filipinos, it is as if it never happened. Before it, we suffered through 20 years of Marcos rule, the last 14 of which was a murderous and kleptomaniac dictatorship. But the Filipino youth have no idea of what we went through. In fact, a large number seems to think that Marcos was the best president the Philippines ever had, and his son Bongbong as his second coming.
How did this happen? And how do we rectify the wrong perception of those who did not live through the bullying, stealing, torturing and murdering of the Marcos regime?
We have blamed the education system, how recent history has been taught in our schools. There are those who smirk that EDSA was not a real revolution, just a change of leadership among the elite. Some have blamed the gentleness of our revolution. Perhaps blood should have been shed, it should have cost us more than an extended weekend picnicking on EDSA. Perhaps Marcos should have been hanged, like Ceausescu by the crowd in Romania.
Whatever the reason for the appalling ignorance of our recent history among the youth, something must be done to correct it.
Marcos has long died though he remains unburied, awaiting undeserved military honors before his family finally puts his body in the ground. His wife Imelda remains an object of hate and ridicule. But she has gotten elected to the House of Representatives and she seems to have regained some social acceptance.
His Minister of National Defense, Juan Ponce Enrile, who authored the draconian decrees that made military rule even more severe, has served several terms in the senate and time in detention for sedition and plunder, but he continues to enjoy a political soapbox.
And now, the dictator’s son and namesake, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who is leading the family’s attempt to claim the wealth they stole from the Filipino people, is leading the race for the vicepresidency.
This as we approach the 30th anniversary of the glorious event in our history when we, the Filipino people, freed ourselves from the grip of the Marcos dictatorship.
Thirty years after EDSA, there is much unfinished business. The restoration of our democracy is imperfect, incomplete. We are a tolerant and forgiving people. We do not close doors or speak and act with finality. Which is why every election, we are faced with the same dynastic names to choose from. And any attempt to change the normal course of governance – the inefficiencies, the bribery, the corruption – has been met with hostility and resistance. And we, the people, shrug and walk away, leaving everything to be decided by the same old bully-boys of politics and governance.
Thirty years ago, on Feb. 22 to 25, 1986, our EDSA revolution booted an entrenched and corrupt dictator, his wife, children and cronies out of the country. Marcos and his ilk fled with their tail between their legs. We were the darlings of the international media, the envy of other suppressed and oppressed societies, and the toast of the democratic world.
People Power was so powerful, it made an entrenched dictator blink. It had been simmering over the years, in resentment over the loss of our freedoms, and escalated into righteous anger after Ninoy Aquino was assassinated by the Marcos regime. In 1986, it made people stand up in defiance of the dictator’s threats of arrest and detention, ready to give their lives for the restoration of democracy that a Cory victory promised.
At EDSA, we challenged Marcos to do his worst and he blinked. Like the Wizard of Oz who turned out to be a mere bully with a megaphone, Marcos turned tail.
Our unexpected victory gave us a high, and an enviable reputation as a peace-loving, prayerful people determined to return to democracy in the ways of democracy. We became the darlings of the world. And we returned to EDSA over and over again to relieve those four days, and celebrate and renew our faith in democracy and our commitment to the spirit of EDSA.
But as the years wore on, the annual hoopla began to get old. Obviously, people power had to be harnessed to go beyond annual commemorations.
Cory Aquino tried to do this with her People Power People Movement that sought to harness the generosity, selflessness, courage and love of country that we displayed in a dangerous situation at EDSA, into actual generous, selfless and courageous service to country and people. On Ninoy Aquino’s 20th death anniversary in 2003, she launched the movement by honoring a handful of Filipinos — ordinary folk who had worked quietly, willingly, neither seeking nor getting publicity, but making a real difference in their communities. By focusing on unseen and unsung heroes, President Cory gave us an idea of what service to country and people is about, how many Filipinos have manifested that “the Filipino is worth sacrificing their time, talent, and treasure for.”
Six years after her death, the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation’s Center for Leadership continues to develop a new generation of people power people by identifying, forming, nurturing and recognizing young people “who, through a process of self-transformation, can develop into a community of empowering, world-class leaders.”
On the 30th anniversary of the EDSA People Power revolution, let us make the transformation of our youth a nationwide effort. But to do this, we must ourselves become “people power people” true to the meaning and substance of EDSA: love of country and selfless service so that others may live better lives in freedom, justice and democracy.
How do we rectify the wrong perception of those who did not live through the bullying, stealing, torturing and murdering of the Marcos regime?