In 1986 Ajaz ur Rahman heard Indian television reports that Marcos was no longer the president of the Philippines. Also an avid newspaper reader in his country, Ajaz was happy for the Filipinos who, three years ago, were intensely outraged by the Marcos military’s murdering of opposition leader Ninoy Aquino in broad daylight at the tarmac of Manila International Airport. After greeting “Konnichiwa,” a Japanese newsreader at NHK aired reports of the four-day EDSA People Power Revolution, showing her camera crew’s live and early footages of a jubilant people and the fall of their fatigued dictator seen touch down in Hawaii to start a life in exile.
“Try not to forget what you saw,” American memoirist Roger Rosenblatt wrote, “(T)he theme is in fact our own: that a people released from oppression will, of their natural inclinations, seek humane values. A revolutionary thought to the likes of Hobbes, who called democracy an aristocracy of orators, but not so wild an idea to Americans, who over the tortuous and often backsliding years have seen the theme take hold. History in some of its blacker moments has shown that democracy can twist itself into the tyranny of the many, can run to chaos and go mad; but in the long run, if it is given the long run, it usually turns generous and fair. The Filipinos did not appear to require a long run; the normal revolutionary process seemed edited for television. Looking ahead, the world wants to see if the country can cast off a history of violence and corruption that long preceded Marcos. For a stunning moment, however, the essential impulse stood up for all to marvel at. There before your eyes a thought became a decision, became a deed, with no other impetus than that a people realized they had a claim on their own souls.”
And so the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines always announces to the caring world that the EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary falls every February 25, the fixed date of national and official celebration.
“A story I will never get tired of narrating to future generations,” Manuel Mogato said only last year, describing EDSA 1986 as “a news coverage of a lifetime.” The Filipino Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist said he and two million others witnessed history unfold “that can’t be changed by false narratives in social media.” To be precise, there are even fake news and fake news outlets and worse, fake shows and a made-up Marcos movie director in aid of historical distortions no less.
No worries. Instead of humiliating, we are educating. We are fighting back against historical alterations. “Ninoy, Hindi Ka Nag-iisa” has been immortalized. Our fight told and retold in high definition is nothing compared to his. The truth-telling of the slain founder of Lakas ng Bayan or Laban freed not just himself, but also his fellow Filipinos. Was it partida for he was not in the digital age? Again, no worries. The world has bestowed unending fame upon at least four things: (1) Ninoy’s Martyrdom (Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility 2018; Mydans 1986), (2) “Bayan Ko” (Freddie Aguilar was playing guitar and singing this protest song in front of the large political rally led by Corazon Aquino and Doy Laurel, 1985-86), (3) “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” (Various Artists 1986), and (4) “Magkaisa” (Virna Lisa 1986). To be fair, there was also notoriety; the Imeldific lifestyle, that is. What a fitting welcome to and trailer of the digital world, thanks to the Filipino uprising 37 years ago.
Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Charles Colson said: “(Senator Aquino) was one of the half-dozen most deeply intellectual persons with whom I have come into contact… I consider (him) a Christian martyr because he had the courage to act on his beliefs and the scriptural teaching of justice and human rights regardless of personal sacrifice.” When people got out of the streets, largely in Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), Metro Manila, they reminisce about the refinement of that person. Even earlier, the “Tarlac to Tarmac” run (UPI 1984) was already giving a psychological advantage to the genuine opposition. Good-quality street demonstrations like these were risky and there was no guarantee of effecting social change.
Therein lies the beauty of genuinely seeking a sense of community and related values. India, Japan, the USA, and the rest of the world loved that. They wanted to own EDSA’s theme, too. To be sure, nation-states need to be cautious of some EDSA veterans like plunder defendant Juan Ponce Enrile because the effects of their local identities bring no global benefits. The study of Villanueva & Salazar (2015) argues that “patronage politics has become a defining characteristic of the Philippine political landscape.” While EDSA won back our democracy, the defining moment is in our decision to reclaim lost ground as we have had enough or sobra na.
Poverty gets worse due to Machiavellian oppression. Leaders need to be told to stop using COVID-19 as an excuse to not improve the living conditions of people, especially the poor. Some need to be told that too many official foreign trips are unworkable. The Philippine government and private institutions need to deliver less than the best services. As the world joins in observance of the legacy of Filipinos who ousted a dictator through people power in February 1986, we need to remind ourselves that the EDSA spirit must live on and ask God to open our eyes to see oppression, working against it on various fronts, not believing that might is right nor it makes right.
DC Alviar
Professor DC Alviar serves as a member of the steering committee of the Philippine International Studies Organization (PHISO). He was part of National University’s community extension project that imparted the five disciplines of a learning organization (Senge, 1990) to communities in a local government unit. He writes and edits local reports for Mega Scene. He graduated with a master’s degree in development communication from the University of the Philippines Open University in Los Baños. He recently defended a dissertation proposal for his doctorate degree in communication at the same graduate school under a Philippine government scholarship grant. He was editor-in-chief of his high school paper Ang Ugat and the Adamson News.
