From the recollections, one can glean a deep sense of disappointment, of our failure not to have used our regained freedom into building genuine democracy- wherein people would have the opportunities to pursue their dreams of a better life.
Mark Lopez shared his insights of EDSA One in Facebook: “I was 17 when EDSA 1 happened and my family and I were there, together with the millions who want change. It was surreal and it was indeed a triumphant moment when news of Marcos family fleeing was confirmed. In the immediate aftermath, all I could think of was that our country will now be on the cusp of true progress and development. Of course the foremost celebration was for the reinstatement of democracy and freedom to be a Filipino.
“”Thirty years after, I now cringe at what went by after EDSA1. I really don’t know what it is in our psyche that we continue to celebrate democracy but we also embraced mediocrity, especially in governance.
“We may be free, but we are still slaves to indifference, to corruption, and to greed. Do we really deserve this?”
Cesar Caoili emailed his recollection: “I was there in Edsa on the very first day when it all began. I was employed in one of the companies of the Yuchengco’s. After our morning sales meeting, me and my co-employees went to Edsa upon hearing that Enrile and Ramos have broken away from Marcos.
“I told my friends during that time that the Edsa revolution as it is being called is the revolution of the oligarchs who are against Marcos and nothing will change. The lives of the poor Filipinos will not improve except the lives of the old oligarchs. Also, the freedom that these people are extolling that will be given back to the Filipinos was freedom to be poor and hungry. Indeed, freedom of the press was restored and that’s it.”
The irony of EDSA People Power is captured by JB Baylon in an article he wrote for VERA Files: “Imagine that: free elections that are the fruits of EDSA may very end up restoring a Marcos into the highest echelons of government! That’s the price we pay for democracy?”
The film, EDSA XXX by renowned avant-garde filmmaker, KHAVN also tackles where we are now after 30 years. It opened last Wednesday City as part of the 4th edition of the Active Vista Human Rights Film Festival. It is still showing up to Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Cinema 4 of Shang Cineplex, Shangri-La Mall, Mandaluyong
The festival theme is “truth X imagination.”
Festival Director Leni Velasco said, “We commemorate EDSA every year because 30 years ago, the nation saw truth and acted on it. The truth is 30 years after, we have forgotten this truth because we have been facing other truths as well, truths that we live with every day of our lives – the truth in the face of children living in the streets; of a mother whose child has disappeared; of women sexually abused or trafficked; of people discriminated because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression; of families torn apart by the need to look for greener pastures abroad; of workers living on deplorable working conditions; of parents who can barely provide food in their family’s tables; of farmers suffering from the impacts of climate change; of commuters losing their productivity and dignity in the horrible traffic situation; of public servants who makes corruption a sustainable living, of this May 2016 elections where the changes in leadership means nothing to ordinary Filipinos; of a government who has failed to live up to the promise of EDSA.”
Velasco said Active Vista explores the recurring questions “30 Years after EDSA, has nothing really changed? Are we better off now than we were before?” through a political satirical musical dedicated to “Filipinos who know how to live for love of freedom and liberty.”
For screening schedules, check out www.activevista.ph or call Kai 09151780240.
we should not blame ourselves because the politicians we voted into power wasted our confidence by enriching themseves as well as their relatives and cronies. we need politicians with programmes to eradicate poverty by giving incentives to business so that jobs can be created. a lot of people have masters and doctors degrees. every year thousands are able to pass board exams. they need capable leaders. in industry, in government.
A large part of the problem is the absence of critical thinking from people like Leni Velasco who fail to see the progress made by the Philippines during the past six years and dwell instead on all the problems. They fail to see that they are a part of the cultural problem of complete deniability of any accountability for anything. So Filipinos do a very good job of conveying to investors that they should take their money to Viet Nam or other places that are more positive in their self-assessments. I’ve never seen such a place where national pride is found in complaining rather than helping.
Ang mga nasa likod sa larawan ang kawawa pagkatapos ng edsa. Dahil sila ang naghirap, pero ang mga nasa harapan ng larawan ay sagana ang buhay. Napakaganda sana ng Pilipinas kung naipagtuloy ang mga layunin at adhikain ni Marcos. Mura sana masyado ang bigas na pangunahing pagkain ng mga tao. Dahilan bakit mura ang bigas dahil libre ang abono o mura ang halaga, mga binhi ay libre at iba pa na gamit pagsasaka.
Thirty years on and people still have not seen what happened before their eyes in Club Filipino.
Enrile and FVR became defense secretary and AFP chief in Cory’s Revolutionary Government.
Now how were those two going to hold accountable for atrocities the men in uniform who served under them during martial law? How could they help going after Marcos and his cronies when they were cronies and friends of cronies themselves?
Don’t blame Cory and the idealists around him for including Enrile and FVR in the Revolutionary Govts. cabinet. They had no choice. They needed the support of the uniformed forces if they were going to stay in power and the uniformed forces would certainly not support them if they were going to be held accountable for what they did during martial law. Enrile and FVR were forced on the Revolutionary Govt. They were the insurance that the uniformed services needed. It was a necessary compromise, lethal to revolution but opened the door to evolution.
What we are witnessing now is the impatience of people with the slow and gradual process of evolution. And that impatience is what is driving to candidates who offer quick solutions.
Ang pagpatalsik kay Marcos ay walang magandang naidulot.
walang magandang naidulot pero lagi mong pinupuri sina ngoyngoy at roxas.
may tawag sa ganyan. yung parang maliit na dragon na nagpapalitpalit ng kulay.
Arvin @ 5 going back a hundred years or so, kicking out the Spaniards out, then the Americans, and the Japanese also did not bring much to the people in terms of progress, but it gave the Filipinos the Freedom to choose their own destiny..
looking forward, the Phl as a country and its people as society will stay whether the Marcosses, the Aquinos or even the Enriles or the Estradas wanted to stay with them…They still have to choose their own destiny…
Ang mga pilipino hindi talaga minsan maintindihan. May pagkainis na minsan sinakop ang Pilipinas ng mga Spaniards, pero tinatangkilik ang mga naging pamana ng mga Spaniards sa Pilipinas. Ang mga fiesta ay dahil sa mga Spaniards. Maraming tao na kung fiesta sa kanilang barangay ay kailangan mangutang para makabili ng lutuin para maipakain sa mga maging bisita. Galit ang mga pilipino na sinakop ng bansang hapon minsan ang Pilipinas. Pero maraming tao ang naghahanap ng treasure na naiwan ng mga hapon. Kung galit ang mga pilipino sa mga hapon dapat hindi na sila maghangad na hanapin pa ang mga treasure na naiwan sa bansa. Eh paano pera ang dahilan. Pera pera na ang naging usapan mula ng mapatalsik si Marcos. Dahil sa mga treasure maraming tao ang naloko. Halimbawa na lang patingnan ng gold bar na parang totoo talaga at nagbibigay ng pera eh peke pala.
Critical thinking? Joe America, if I may, you maybe correct about the progress in the last 5 or 6 years only thing is that the growth is not INCLUSIVE enough to make people think and feel otherwise. Who do you think corner the big percentage of this growth? Did the majority’s lives change for the better? They did not even address the issue on labor contractualization to name one that can address poverty.
The people have given a lot to pnoy and his family and yet he has not reciprocated with actions that matters like the FOI bill for example. Daang Matuwid is about good governance and the FOI bill will promote transparency! What did he do about it? nothing.
Now, what is this campaign to malign the younger Marcos? Theres no issue about martial law. He said is about right and wrong implying himself and his group in the right. Big hogwash in my view. They have 30 years to compensate the victims of martial law, being the government! Did they do anything? I guess more excuses as to why this chapter of the many victims is not close.
Their group with their oligarch and big names allies have almost 30 years in power. They should have done something meaningful and thats the sad truth! they fail because of their own greed.
Ang mga uto utong tao na sumali sa edsa para mapatalsik si Marcos ay mahirap mapatawad para sa mga marcos loyalist. Sila ang dahilan kung bakit nagdurusa ngayon ang bansa sa kahirapan. Pati mga tao na hindi pa sinisilang ay damay talaga dahil mamumulat sila sa bansa na sobrang di mabuti na. Hanggang ngayon si Pnoy hindi pa rin maka move on na may kaugnayan sa edsa. Si bongbong marcos ay masyadong kinakampanya na huwag iboto dahil sa martial law. Hindi man lang naisip ni Pnoy na kung hindi dahil kay Marcos ay hindi sila magiging ganun na pamilya. Hindi magiging presidente si cory aquino, at siya. Paano na ang bansa kung ang mamuno ay kontra sa panahon ni Marcos. Si binay ay ginusto na mapatalsik si marcos. Ang iba pa na mga presidentiable ay gusto na mapatalsik si Marcos sa panahon na iyon. Kaya kahit sino pang manalo ay walang mangyayaring pag iiba para sa bansa. Dahil kapag bawat maging pangulo ang naka anino ay kontra kay marcos.
Ang bansa ay magiging mabuti lang kung ang maging pangulo ang kanyang anino ay hindi kontra kay Marcos. Mga nagiging pangulo ng mapatalsik na si Marcos ay lagi pa rin ini isyu si Marcos kapag ang gobyerno na hawak nila ay walang magandang nangyayari. Para maiba ang isyu ay magsalita patungkol kay Marcos at ang media naman ay pina patulan ang sinasabi. Nasa diaryo agad ang sinabi ng pangulo patungkol kay marcos. Palibhasa ang mga taga media ay dahilan din para mapatalsik si Marcos.
Salvador H. Laurel was Cory Aquino’s vice-president and running mate in the 1986 snap elections. Laurel wrote Aquino on August 13, 1988 to signify his intention to leave her administration. The letter below is featured in the book by Cecilio T. Arillo “Greed and Betrayal”. This also appeared in the opinion section of February 19, 2014 issue of the Manila Standard Today newspaper.
Republic of the Philippines
Office of the Vice-President
Executive House, Manila
August 13, 1988
Dear President Aquino:
I write at a time of deep anguish for our people. And so I shall not burden you with undue sentiment. I shall go straight to the point.
You and I were called by Providence to serve at a turning point in our history. Our call to service was unique. We had sought our people’s vote in an election, but they gave us something more in a bloodless revolution that was to astound the world. At EDSA, we forged a covenant with God, country and people.
I have tried to live by the covenant. Because of it, I have kept faith with your presidency, even when it was not possible to discern its purpose. Like many concerned Filipinos, I too had my doubts. But the ardent hopes rekindled at EDSA made me decide to give you my best arm to help you lead our people to better times.
But it did not work out that way. And so after temporizing for 18 months, I was compelled to resign as Secretary of Foreign Affairs on September 8, 1987. At that point, ‘fundamental differences’ had grown between us that went ‘to the very roots of political beliefs and moral principles which determine our conduct and performance as ‘servants of the people’s will and the people’s well being.’ Indeed, we seemed to stand on opposite sides of the ideological conflict. But seeing the possible harm that our sudden separation then could inflict upon the nation, I decided at my own expense, to mute these differences and to hold my peace. I did not join the opposition.
Now I feel I must write this letter to you and I do so with a heavy heart. For you and I have gone through much hardship and danger together in our lonely fight to restore democracy in our country — and there are feelings, thoughts and memories that press for utterance.
But the true state of the nation must be told. And the painful truth is that the NATION HAS GONE FROM BAD TO WORSE, while you choose to stand aside in the puerile hope that the problems would simply solve themselves. The ‘new moral order’ to which we were solemnly committed has been perverted. It has become a haven for assassins and a den of thieves. Corruption, betrayal of the public trust and other high crimes have been laid at your door, including a complaint for impeachment, which your chief ally in Congress has already consigned to the archives.
We promised our people morality and decency in government. What do we have instead? The very opposite. It is now openly admitted by many, including your former Solicitor-General and some of your own close relatives in Congress, that the stench of “accumulated garbage” — I’m quoting your own first cousin, Congressman Emigdio Tanjuatco, Jr. — rises to high heaven; that the past years of Marcos are now beginning to look no worse than your first two years in office. And the reported controversies and scandals involving your closest relatives have become the object of our people’s outrage.
We promised to “break the back” of the insurgency. But what is the record? From 16,500 NPA regular when Marcos fell, the communists now claim an armed strength of 25,200, of which 2,500 are in Metro Manila. They have infiltrated not only the trade unions, the schools, the churches and the media but your government, above all, and now “affect” 20 percent of the country’s 42,000 barangays, according to official statistics.
In the fight against the insurgency, the nation, particularly our Armed Forces, expected you to provide the leadership, and to give decisive, clear and consistent orders. But you have chosen instead to behave like an innocent bystander, as though the insurgency were the sole concern of our soldiers, their widows and orphans. At the height of our people’s euphoria in in 1986, very few dared to question your unilateral decision to release the communist detainees, declare a ceasefire and hold peace talks with the National Democratic Front.
But it has since become clear that these unilateral acts of yours have provided the biggest boon to the communist revolutionary movement. Yet, in your speech before the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva last June, you singled out, as one of your most important achievements, your freeing of the communist detainees, with special emphasis on Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
In your recent State of the Nation address you told our people that you have already broken the back of the insurgency.
The truth is that the peace and order situation is much worse today than when you came into office. It is now the number one problem of the nation.
From city to countryside, anarchy has spread. There is anarchy within the government, anarchy within the ruling coalesced parties, and anarchy in the streets. These require your direct intervention. Yet you continue to ignore this problem.
On a number of occasions I have proposed that you convene the National Security Council and the Council of State to deliberate and, if possible, take a common stand on the many critical issues confronting the nation. You repeatedly rejected all these proposals claiming that they belong to your exclusive “prerogatives” as President, and therefore you alone will decide them. You insist on holding in the hollow of your hand all your options for national survival, yet you refuse to adopt needed policies and programs that detail those options.
Despite my limited access to you, which became even more limited after I left the Cabinet, I tried to focus your attention on the need for a well-defined program of government. Such a program was made available to you by UNIDO (United Nationalists Democratic Organizations) from the very start, when it made you its presidential candidate. But in total disregard of all political norms, you completely ignored the party platform, refused to acknowledge your obligations to the party that sponsored your bid for power, and tolerated all open or underhanded assaults against it.
If I have held my peace until now in spite of your decision to ignore me altogether and to listen instead only to the counsel of those whose political, economic and social interests are more congruent with your own, it is because my sense of responsibility for this new government goes much farther back in time. It was I who, although already nominated for President by the UNIDO National Convention in June 1985, offered you, not a million signatures on a petition, but a solid, pre-existing political structure that would assure you of victory and a chance to fulfil the hopes and dreams of our suffering people.
While I accept my share of moral responsibility for having helped place your administration in power, that responsibility must be proportionate to the actual opportunity given me to participate in the decision-making process. That opportunity was close to zero.
It pains me to have to write this letter to the beloved widow of my childhood friend, Ninoy Aquino. But the truth must be told and I cannot avoid addressing this letter to a lady who happens to be President of the Philippines and who as such, cannot escape responsibility for the gross misgovernment of our Republic.
Let me conclude with a trite but crucial reminder:
THE COUNTRY MUST COME FIRST AND NO SACRIFICE IS TOO GREAT FOR IT!
The responsibility to take the essential step to ease the nation’s suffering is yours alone and I would not wish to usurp it. But if, in your conscience, you feel you must now make the supreme sacrifice by stepping down from the presidency and call for an immediate election to enable our people to choose another leader for these critical times, I want you to know that I am ready to make that same sacrifice with you.
Should you, however, choose to remain in office and continue to misgovern the nation, I will have no choice but to forthwith disassociate myself completely from your government. I will be able to serve our country better by speaking out freely for the national interest and always for the sake of truth, justice, freedom, and democracy.
Sincerely yours,
Salvador H. Laurel