Posts tagged with Cory Aquino

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February 27, 2011

25th Anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution

It has been two days, but I still feel the need to post this belated entry about the 25th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.

One thing that is apparent in the public opinion is either disinterest, especially among the youth many of whom had not been born during those times (watch this video of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism to see how random ordinary students fared when asked about the 1986 Revolution) or disillusionment. The disappointment is real because indeed, the socio-economic and political conditions that spawned the uprising is the same. Twenty-five years later, we are almost no better than we were before (of course, I’m not saying this as a matter of experience, having been born after 1986).

Another thing that is readily apparent in all the government-sponsored revelries is the malicious and conscious effort of the ruling class to reduce the commemoration of the revolution into a middle class pageantry instead of recognizing the militant and collective execution of the uprising causing the overthrow of the dictator. In all irony, the message of the government in all the Presiden’t speeches and the mainstream mass media in many of their news stories is that there is no need for another popular uprising, and that the very acts that constituted the revolution, the militant and collective mobilizations of citizens into the streets, are now irrelevant. The revolution for social change, according to them, can now be executed through the government and through charity and tamed voluntary work.

Tonyo Cruz in his article at the Asian Correspondents made a similar observation.

The traditional politicians know People Power is a most potent tool in the people’s arsenal, along with strikes, boycotts, demonstrations and other mass actions. That is why they routinely tell us that People Power is passe, archaic, outdated. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had every reason to berate People Power. She knew full well that she was a legitimate target, considering the level of hatred her misrule had inspired among the public.

…The traditional political elite and their mass media cannot even make their minds on how to tell and retell the story of EDSA and the long fight against Marcos. The focus are on icons and shrines, on names and faces of media-manufactured personalities, as if the uprising could have succeeded with only them acting by their their lonesome. The official list of state-canonized EDSA heroes is relatively short and is a continuing insult to the PEOPLE who comprised People Power from 1972 until 1986, and from 1998-2001.

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February 25, 2010

To the next people power revolution!

The mainstream depiction of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution (EDSA 1) as a spontaneous outburst of the people’s outrage to the Marcos dictatorship bothers me. From how I hear it from martial law veterans and in history books, revolution has long been waging and brewing in the decade before the massive EDSA protest. EDSA 1 was simply a product, not even the culmination, of more than a decade of struggle against the dictatorship.

It also bothers me how certain personalities and families are depicted as heroes of EDSA 1, when some of them were never part in the build-up to the overthrow. It seems to me, even, that they only hijacked the opportunity when it was ripe. In fact, their only role in aiding the culmination of the people’s desire to oust Marcos were as the oppressors, being the architects and the implementors of martial rule. It’s deplorable that for all the abuses they committed the years before EDSA 1, they are remembered as its heroes simply by their last-minute act of finally riding the wave of the people’s anger. Yes, I’m talking about the military through the leadership of Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos. Worse, the real heroes who have persisted and died have consistently been sidelined and “airbrushed” out of the credit they deserve more than Enrile, Ramos, Sin or even the Aquinos.

Today some sectors are celebrating in revelry the victory of EDSA 1. But we commemorate the triumph that was at a time when our people languish in poverty and progressive reforms and resistance are suppressed by a tyrannical government. Has EDSA 1 failed? The seeming indifference of many of our people to the commemoration is telling.

I may sound ungrateful for the democratic fruits of the bloodless revolution. But to clam that without EDSA 1 we wouldn’t be enjoying the freedom we now experience is a sham. Even without the military coup, even without Cardinal Sin or Corazon Aquino, a revolution would have erupted, and I’m sure we would still be enjoying the freedoms we enjoy today, I daresay even more.

So, has EDSA 1 failed? No revolutionary triumph will ever last and succeed without the masses at the forefront and without their decisive leadership. There is no genuine triumph in a revolution that does not dismantle the old institutions that have shackled the people for centuries. Revolutions taken advantage of by oppressors posturing as heroes are bound to fail.

Social conditions today are ripe for another uprising. When the next people power revolution comes, we should have learned the glaring lessons.

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August 14, 2009

The Last Journey of Ninoy

I went to the premiere of “The Last Journey of Ninoy” at Power Plant Mall in Rockwell last night.

The film is a docu-drama that highlights different stages in the life of the martyred senator, form his roots as a brash and talented young man, forward to his long and arduous journey as a politician and a private family man, presented as flashbacks weaved together with the last days of his life as he returned to the Philippines from Boston as the narrative spine.

Through known and new records, plus valuable memories and insights from wife and ally, Cory, audiences are shown Ninoy’s truest ideals and deepest struggles, his indomitable spirit and faith, as seen through all his hardships and all the hostilities he faced.

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August 4, 2009

At the Aquino wake in Manila Cathedral

My mother asked me if I was willing to accompany her to the wake of former President Cory Aquino. The prospect of falling in line for hours instead of studying for class the next day was not appealing at first. But I agreed, paying respect to a good and upright former president never felt wrong.

Yesterday afternoon, before leaving for class, I watched the live coverage of Cory’s cortege from Ortigas to the Manila Cathedral. It was quite overwhelming. Tens of thousands of people lined up the streets and showered the funeral procession with flowers and confetti. I don’t remember Cory being that popular the past years. Perhaps its because the longing for an upright and moral leader is intensified in times when we are beset under the leadership of an evil woman. Cory’s presence, and the leadership she exemplified, though not perfect, is something that is greatly to be missed today. We appreciate something so much more when we don’t have it. Indeed.

The cortege arrived in Intramuros two hours delayed due to the throngs of people that slowed down the funeral procession. My mother and I had planned to proceed to the Manila Cathedral right after my afternoon class, but we decided to postpone the visit till midnight. We thought there would be much less people queuing by early morning. We were wrong. When we got to Intramuros by midnight, the line was still probably a mile long, snaking around the streets of Intramuros. We were able to stand before the casket of the former president after almost two hours.

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August 1, 2009

Corazon Aquino (1933-2009)

My mother told me a few nights before former President Corazon Aquino died, that if it weren’t for “Tita Cory”, I wouldn’t be here. It was a long shot at connecting unexpected turn of events, but nonetheless not unworthy of remembering, as the nation now reflects on how the former President touched the lives of Filipinos and changed the course of the country’s history.

Upon assuming the leadership of the nation after the People Power Revolution, Tita Cory appointed Rogaciano Mercado to the Ministry of Public Works (now DPWH). Together with Minister Mercado was my mother who became his chief assistant secretary, appointed likewise by President Aquino. Through the prodding of a co-worker, who became an erstwhile matchmaker, she was introduced to a budding engineer who was then applying for promotion. And that’s how the relationship began.

Months later, Minister Mercado was dismissed by the President, but the relationship of my mother and father remained, even as my mom left the Ministry as well.

After watching some of her speeches and reviewing several articles written about her and her presidency, I wouldn’t say that I am a fan of Cory Aquino’s politics and ideologies. She was however, up to her last years, undoubtedly a woman of moral integrity and leadership. The past years saw how the former President marched and rallied with the people, despite her failing health, to denounce attempts at changing the Constitution and to denounce President Gloria Arroyo for the corruption that continues to plague her administration. At a time when the country is besieged by a morally bankrupt leader who is assuming the role of Cory’s fascist predecessor, Tita Cory’s presence, and the moral leadership she largely stood for, is something that will be missed. Rest in peace, President Cory.