Philippine and other media have conveniently labeled a number of past local political upheavals and incidents as the three people power revolutions of E. de los Santos Ave., Metro Manila or Edsa (Edsa's I to III). But in reality and actual fact there was only ONE true people power revolution and that was Edsa I of February 22 to 25, 1986. The one that toppled President Ferdinand Marcos' 21-year grip on power. The other two were in one way or another fake, unnecessary or staged copycats unrepresentative of the people the power supposedly came from.
EDSA-I
Edsa-I had all the makings of a historic, political, revolutionary upheaval full of drama, spontaneity, fear, bravery, strategy, moral righteousness and a common, steadfast belief in a just and necessary cause. Born out of a failed coup attempt and two decades of fixed elections, oppression, rampant corruption, nepotism, cronyism, political assassination, detention and torture it was a David v.s. Goliath story which united both rich and poor alike (plus rebel soldiers and the church) to stand up to a military-backed dictator. A relatively non-violent confrontation by exasperated common citizens which prevailed against a powerful, entrenched and despotic strongman that until then was unheard of in the Third World...or even the entire post-war World. In fact, it amazed the free world and was a warning to similar dictatorships. People power became part of the international political jargon and a new catchphrase for the oppressed. It was hailed in Time and Newsweek.
And the massing of the people against Marcos wasn't limited to the one to three million who flocked to Edsa in Manila. No, not by a long shot. Similar gatherings spontaneously cropped up in other cities in the provinces as well such as Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Bundokland, Gubatania, etc. (forgot the other places) in support of those in Edsa. There was a general consensus that Marcos must go and a dire need to do something about it. So one could say that it was national in scope. I know I'm saying it. Also...most of the leftists missed out on it which is a plus.
It wasn't a coup, the coup already failed earlier in the story. It was a festive revolution by the people (and illegal under the Marcos or any constitution) and nobody said it was a normal political exercise so the succeeding government of President Cory Aquino initially had to work as a revolutionary government until a new constitution was ratified. After that was done the government finally could call itself legitimate.
Sadly, Edsa-I hardly changed anything for long in the political atmosphere of the Philippines. Wheeling and dealing still goes on. Corruption, election-rigging, abuses and nepotism is still a fact of life in local and national politics. Even the Marcos family and some of their cronies are back in seats of power...us (the Filipino) being so stupid, forgetful and forgiving. But once upon a time, we all shed our fear of tyranny, cast the dice, stood up to right a wrong and ousted a dictator... and that will forever be a valued historical accomplishment. At least nowadays Filipinos are more tenacious about guarding and exercising their rights. Now we just have to learn that with freedom comes responsibility. Not stupidity.
The other EDSAs
Edsa's-II and III on the other hand were quite different. There was no oppression or curtailment of human rights. No fear for ones life or liberty if one speaks out against the presiding regime. Not generally anyway. There was no immediate need to right a situation or lose all. It wasn't national in scope. Mainly just Manila...and a small part of Manila at that. The cause wasn't selfless but selfish. Both were partially or entirely planned and set up by people pulling the strings. And both were more mob rule than people power and were a failure of the due process of law. Actually, Edsa-III was just a failure.
I didn't bother with Edsa-II of February 17 to 20, 2001 since the situation didn't merit it. Several hundred thousand did join in but many more just stayed away. It was a downright coup against Erap (President Joseph Estrada) with people power wannabe's who missed out on Edsa-I because they were too young to care and a too-quick-to-change-sides military and police. Also some leftists joined in. New technology allowed most participants to be summoned thru cell phones by a conveniently organized text brigade.
A lot of people couldn't stand having Erap for president and he was a muddling fool when it comes to presidential prerogatives, outright corruption or foreign relations...hell, I couldn't stand him and his unattractive, obese sons myself, but he was elected by the biggest majority than any of our previous presidents. And he did order the army to clear out the MILF strongholds that was a challenge to the nation's sovereignty and were previously left alone in the south. He may have looked like an embarrassing, unsophisticated waddling duck to the international eye, playing million-peso stakes mahjong while gulping cases of thousand dollar wine up to the wee hours and taking wednesdays off like an extra driver but he WAS duly elected. Granted elected by stupid people in large groups but still he was a legitimate president. And the impeachment against him was verging on failure.
President Gloria Arroyo happened to be the vice-president so she had to be the one to replace Erap when Edsa-II succeeded. Luckily, the supreme court legitimized this incident at the last minute by stating that the welfare of the people is supreme law (or something to that effect)...unluckily, this set the stage for the bogus Edsa-III revolt. I still sort of support GMA (Edsa-II people have changed their tune regarding her and what they hailed as her triumphant rise to power after Erap)....it's her husband that nobody likes. It must be said though that Edsa-II probably was the least violent of the three.
I also didn't join Edsa-III (just months after Edsa-II, late April-May 1, 2001) because everybody knew it was a farce and a futile set-up power re-grab by Erap flunkies after he was arrested for corruption. There was even talk of a budget supporting the operation plan for this incident. Ten million here another million there and some more from somewhere... And some free flowing crystal meth for any takers to stir up the masses. I mean how genuine and spontaneous can they get? After this one are we doing another people power revolt next tuesday? And why crap on a shrine as they did? Besides, Edsa-III consisted mostly of misguided people and payable hacks that can easily be manipulated...like the urban poor and we all know they don't count in politics except during elections....or full-blown riots...which was the end result. A useless mob riot. As a political exercise Edsa-III was a waste of time. A bloody, violent, useless, unconscionable and unnecessary waste of time for everybody including those who participated in it. They achieved nothing....but everybody got a declaration of a state of national emergency.
Last but not least
Most important of all, to me, Edsa-I is the real and only legitimate people power revolution (if there is such a thing as a legitimate revolution) because that's where my brothers, cousins, friends and I PARTICIPATED IN and that may be our only contribution towards bettering this nation's political history. We went there and stuck our necks out despite the fear, uncertainty, exhaustion, filth, fear...did I say that already...and real danger simply because we had had enough of the overpowering and overbearing Marcos dictatorship. We faced assault rifles threateningly pointed at us from helicopters, we faced combat-ready marines (some giving us the finger when offered food, flowers or cigarettes...maybe they wanted beer), APCs and tanks (threatening to roll over friends and nuns), friends faced gassing and dispersal. But the Marcos forces all pulled back and eventually joined our side because our cause was right and just ( and because our side later had the rocket-armed choppers of the 15th Strike Wing ready to blow any opposition away). We booted out a dictator and vowed never again to allow another president to hold the reigns of absolute power over us (rowdy as we may be).
My final point is that unlike the original one the two other Edsa's were too much ado over nothing much. So either I'm right or it is just me. Enough said.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment