It saddens this writer that too may people have been heard to say that the era of people power revolutions have come to pass. Indeed one EDSA detractor to my mind is one too many.
EDSA I was one of the greatest shining moment not just in our history as a people but for the whole world. It proved beyond doubt that people do matter and that the Gandhi formula works. Years after EDSA I people from the Eastern European bloc, and former Warsaw countries continue to do people power over and over again in their own localities to over throw repressive regimes.
When asked about their own social movements many of these foreigners have said that they were inspired by the Filipino people power uprising in EDSA. Far from being a failure and a source of embarrassment, as some people regard people power these days, EDSA I was truly an awe inspiring moment. Present and future Filipino generations should remember EDSA I with pride, and should not allow anyone, even the people in Malacanang, to take this legacy away from them.
The first people power revolution was a culmination of more than the accounted and published number of decades of heroism and revolution that actually began in 1898 and manifested anew in 1970 during the 1st quarter storm (FQS). During those stormy days and nights hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets and battled with the police while clamoring for social, political, and economic reform. Marcos pre-empted that student power revolution by declaring martial law in 1972.
The first people power revolution was a culmination of more than the accounted and published number of decades of heroism and revolution that actually began in 1898 and manifested anew in 1970 during the 1st quarter storm (FQS). During those stormy days and nights hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets and battled with the police while clamoring for social, political, and economic reform. Marcos pre-empted that student power revolution by declaring martial law in 1972.
By the late 70's and early 80's the discontent over the extravagance and corruption by the Marcos regime reached the ranks of the middle class. Not only was the first people power revolution a wake up call and an initiation for people my age into political and social movements (I was too young to experience the FQS), EDSA I brought the middle class or middle forces as they are called today into the mainstream for the struggle for reforms.
Then someone in the Marcos administration hastened the downfall of the unpopular regime by ordering the assassinaton of Ninoy at the Tarmac of the Manila International Airport. The was the beginning of the end for Marcos. Unfortunately, the cronies and people like them not only survived but also found their way into the halls of power once more.
EDSA 1 was just the beginning of the fight for justice and truth. We cannot allow this decade to pass without resolving unfinished business. Otherwise the detractors would have been proven right in saying that the EDSA people power revolutions were a mistake, and that we should forget all this talk of people empowerment and enrich the foreign investors some more by focusing on the economy and not to mind the CBCP and the people's call for the truth to come out.
The on-going struggle for reform came out once more with EDSA Dos that was another middle class movement for social and moral reform. (EDSA tres was a lower class uprising which the middle class and the rich choose to ignore). Unfortunately, the middle forces put you know whom in place of Erap. Well that, in my humble opinion, was a mistake and now we are paying the price for that big blooper. Looking back, the Sanlakas bloc may have been right after all. Maybe we should have opted for a resign all option and had a revolutionary government. But that's all water under the bridge. The present is challenging enough without worrying about what may have been.
Some people say that we are now faced with a de facto martial law and another repressive regime. If this is true then the spirit of EDSA is not irrelevant. On the contrary we need the spirit of people power now more than ever. Are we just going to pretend that the crisis is over, that poverty and displacement are no longer real? Are we just going to accept the sorry pronouncements that we are about to take off economically and that the economy and businesses are more important than moral values and the truth?
Jobs and some stability, and even some more foreign and local investments I'm willing to concede, are important at this point in time. But more than just these things, we have to regain our values, we have to stop being apathetic, and we have to make regain our pride and dignity once more.
The on-going struggle for reform came out once more with EDSA Dos that was another middle class movement for social and moral reform. (EDSA tres was a lower class uprising which the middle class and the rich choose to ignore). Unfortunately, the middle forces put you know whom in place of Erap. Well that, in my humble opinion, was a mistake and now we are paying the price for that big blooper. Looking back, the Sanlakas bloc may have been right after all. Maybe we should have opted for a resign all option and had a revolutionary government. But that's all water under the bridge. The present is challenging enough without worrying about what may have been.
Some people say that we are now faced with a de facto martial law and another repressive regime. If this is true then the spirit of EDSA is not irrelevant. On the contrary we need the spirit of people power now more than ever. Are we just going to pretend that the crisis is over, that poverty and displacement are no longer real? Are we just going to accept the sorry pronouncements that we are about to take off economically and that the economy and businesses are more important than moral values and the truth?
Jobs and some stability, and even some more foreign and local investments I'm willing to concede, are important at this point in time. But more than just these things, we have to regain our values, we have to stop being apathetic, and we have to make regain our pride and dignity once more.
For we cannot develop as a people if we choose to forget the lessons of EDSA. How can we progress economically if corruption continues to reign in the land? How can we remain apathetic when millions of our people remain stricken with massive poverty?
More investments and additional revenue for RVAT do not trickle down to the people fast enough and in sufficient amounts to make a significant dent on poverty. Ask anybody from the streets and they will confirm this to be true. The only people who actually benefit from maintaining business as usual (the status quo) are the rich and their minions. Well they do not need more wealth, as they are already rich! Do let us celebrate the triumph of the human spirit that was EDSA I in earnest. Let us continue to pursue our dream of a better country some more. We're almost there. Don't loose hope.
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