Several personalities in EDSA had severely tarnished reputes not because of the People Power Revolution, but because they destroyed themselves. EDSA is “sira” (broken, failed) today – it started less than a decade ago – not because it was wrong, but because it fell victim to the worldwide phenomenon of systematic dis/misinformation and fake news. How is the four-day uprising in February 1986 wrong when it is our race that represents it – a race that loves the neighbor and the people, has fear of God, has accountability, has unity and has the capability of achieving non-violent resistance to the rotten and repressive system?
Not all is sira, though.
Hindi lahat ng EDSA personalities ay balimbing na kayang sabihing nandaya ng 350,000 votes (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1986/02/22/extract-of-the-transcript-of-press-conference-defense-minister-juan-ponce-enrile-and-deputy-chief-of-staff-fidel-v-ramos-on-various-matters/) para kay Marcos, na inambush kunwari para matuloy ang martial law, na magpabago-bago at bumawi ng mga pahayag, at manguna sa kudeta. Hindi lang Enrile ang Cagayan. Natatalo rin sila roon, bukod pa sa pagkatalo sa mga pambansang halalan.
Pero panalo pa rin sila sa pagkakaluklok (posisyong CEZA Administrator para sa nakababatang Enrile at Chief Presidential Legal Counsel para kay Manong JPE) kahit hindi na gusto ng mga tao; malalakas sa Malacanang eh.
Merong bumabanat sa mga Marcos pero iniaakyat sa pedestal ang mga Duterte, at merong bumabanat sa mga Duterte pero hinihinang na parang ginto (mabuti’t hindi sinasabing Tallano gold) ang mga Marcos. Lahat ba’y katulad nila? Hindi. Sila-sila lang.
Malinaw kasi ang turo ng EDSA:
Pagkaisahan ang ikauunlad ng bayan, at huwag na huwag na maisahan ang karaniwang mamamayan na nanakawan ng dignidad, ng datung (mula sa pampublikong pondo), at pinakahuli, ng dunong. May mga scholar na tinitingnan ngayon ang pagkakaugnay ng kahinaang pumili (pagbotong hindi informed and/or “hindi pinag-iisipan”) ng mga lider at ang hindi tamang prayoridad ng mga lider sa sektor ng edukasyon. Kaya nga natatanong, “Sinasadya ba ng mga pulitikong maging mangmang ang mga tao para piliin pa rin silang maglingkod sa kanila?” (It is as if politicians of this kind are serving the people, instead of them being served by the people.)
Hindi lahat ng personalidad sa People Power Revolution sa EDSA, Baguio, Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro, Los Baños, Laguna, at Davao City ay kaya ngang suklian ng serbisyo ang taumbayan pero naghihintay din ng sukli mula kay Pangulong Marcos. “Nung ako mayor, pinakitaan ako ng evidence ng PDEA. Doon sa listahan, nandoon ‘yung pangalan mo (Marcos). Ayaw kong sabihin yan kasi magkaibigan tayo. Kung di man magkaibigan, magkakilala. Eh ikaw eh, pumapasok kayo nang alanganin. Mister President, baka susunod ka sa dinaanan ng tatay mo. Diyan ako takot. Ayaw ko mangyari sa iyo ‘yan. Ako lang nagmamakaawa kasi it (“people’s initiative”) will divide the nation at madugo itong panahong ito.” Pinabulaanan ng PDEA ang pahayag na ito ni FPRRD; gayunpaman, maaaninag ang paghingi ng sukli (pagtanaw ng utang na loob?) at bilang katunayan, nanghihingi rin ng sukli ang anak dahil sino raw ba ang nagpalibing kay Marcos Sr sa LNMB kundi ang kanyang amang si Duterte.
Mahalaga pa ring i-factor in ang personalities kasi importanteng tanong din kung sino-sino nga ba ang mga lider na isinasapamuhay ang diwa ng EDSA. Pero meron sa ating magsasabing ang tanong daw dapat ay kung sino-sino ang nakinabang sa EDSA. Maling pagtanaw at wala sa diwa ng people power iyon. Public office is a public trust, the 1987 Constitution says it right. You do not trust so-called heroes of EDSA, you do not give them positions of service in the first place. Ang tamang pagtanaw na napapanahon din: Huwag magpapabudol. Dumarami nga ang political dynasties.
Doon sa walang paki sa kahalagahan ng EDSA at hindi pa nga isinama ito sa regular holiday pero iba naman ang pagtanaw ni VP Sara at DepEd na naglabas pa ng memo para maayos na gunitain at pahalagahan ito, pakinggan natin si Dr. Julio Teehankee, isang propesor ng political science and international studies sa De La Salle University: “Bongbong Marcos – the only son and namesake of the late dictator – failed in his bid to run for the vice presidency in 2016, despite silently preparing for the presidency since he was elected senator in 2010. He accompanied his father and family members in exile abroad after they were ousted in the first people power uprising in 1986. He returned from exile in 1991 and, together with his sister, Imee Marcos Manotoc, began rebuilding their family’s political influence. In running for the vice presidency, Marcos has refused to acknowledge the human rights abuses and plunder committed under his father’s dictatorial regime. He even endorsed the historical revisionist view (propagated on social media and popular among young millennials) that the Marcos years were the most progressive in the country’s history.
“Marcos lost both the election and his protest to Maria Leonora ‘Leni’ Robredo of the then ruling Liberal Party (LP). In the run-up to the 2022 presidential elections, he has entered into negotiations with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, the equally feisty daughter of the populist president who was initially the frontrunner in presidential surveys. When she opted not to file her candidacy for president, Marcos took the opportunity to declare his candidacy. After much hemming and hawing and upon the urging of former president and Lakas-CMD stalwart Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Sara Duterte opted to run as the vice-presidential candidate of Marcos.
“A potential Marcos-Duterte victory in 2022 would place the Philippines in a full political cycle with authoritarian resurrection.” (Teehankee, 2021)
Now that the rift between the Marcos and Duterte families is clear, there is reason to believe they hardly demonstrate the spirit of EDSA, while people feel unbearably stuck (ipit na ipit) in the situation. But those who installed them in 2022 did not immediately sense that. Even if they regret it in the end, they are suffering now. Those with the spirit of EDSA felt the same (nadamay). They were the ones who thought that there was something to learn from foreign people: Many abusive, authoritarian leaders in different parts of the world were rid of borrowed power by their united peoples, thanks to what they saw in the Filipino people in 1986. But we are still largely neglecting the mission of education meant for those who are easily convinced by fake news, dis/misinformation, and even the Marcos Restoration (Claudio 2023; Teehankee 2023; CENPEG 2022; Quezon 2022, 2024).
Now that the Dutertes have pulled hard (bumanat) on the sitting president just a few weeks ago, it is hard to say that foreign investors are still satisfied with their investment pledges. Neither did President Marcos Jr., nor at least his Executive Secretary, think carefully that the unproclaimed regular holiday commemorating the successful revolution 38 years ago does not mean that it is no longer important to the various countries that once admired such indomitable spirit of the Filipino to unite and begin the cause of freedom and democracy, toppling the strongman’s 21-year rule.
The work of democracy has always been hard, but it does not mean we need to unlearn EDSA and the spirit that goes with it. We may say yes to personalities, but we need to pray hard for their hearts of genuine service.
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.
