revisiting EDSA revolution

The life of the nation does affect one’s life. Twenty two years ago, the Filipinos taught the whole world the ways of democracy which even Mahatma Gandhi did not succeed. The EDSA revolution of 25 February 1986 not only blew the winds of hope for the country but also a new life for so many Filipinos, including mine.

Ferdinand Marcos ruled with seeming impunity from 1965 up to 1986. His excessive greed, together wit his wife and cronies, plundered the treasury, militarized the bureacracy, jailed the opposition, and for the lesser known activists, summary execution. The Marcos years were so dark that Filipinos, resilient as the are, only wished that one day, the light at the end of the tunnel would shine, unknowing that, they would later break open from the dark tunnel themselves.

In August 21, 1983, Ninoy Aquino, the de facto leader of the opposition, came back from his exile in the United States, and braved the warnings and veiled threats of death. Indeed, at the tarmac of the now known as Ninoy Aquino Internal Airport, the Filipino hero of the modern times, met his untimely demise, before the eyes, if not in the hands of the military, that ironically, allegedly was sent to secure him.

But Ninoy’s death saw the birth of spirit of activism that swept across the country. The universities opened their gates so students could transform their ideals into practice as they braved gases, tanks, and worse, summary execution. But what started as a brushfire in the campus turned into intense fire that spread to all levels of society – the poor, the students, the middle class, the church, and even the business elite. Not even the intensified summary executions could douse the searing embers of revolution.

There was no room for apathy amid the call to oust the dictator. In the campus, I saw my friends joining the armed struggle led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. At the early years of their lives, these brilliant students died. Others joined the daily mass protests in the streets, mass movements which were fondly called “parliamentary of the streets”. As for me, I was so skinny I could not possibly carry much more fire an armalite. Besides, I have had in-depth study of communism and marxism and came into a conclusion that the dictatorship of the proletariat is but a mere fiction, for among the members, there is always bound to rise a man of sterling and royal character who will lead, if not dictate the group. As for me, I wrote, and edited the university paper and had my regular opinion column in the local tabloid. The write-ups must have enraged the military that years after, I found out that I was in the order of battle, and that meant, I could have been randomly chosen from among the list, and be, using the lingo of the times, “salvaged” which actually meant being “dispensed with”, or killed without a trace.

Days before February 25, 1986, Gen. Fidel Ramos and then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile hatched a plan to stage coup which was however discovered before it’s execution. The two and their few men occupied a major military camp and decided to put up a fight to the death. But against the military artillery of Marcos, the group could have been subdued easily, if not for the miracle that later on unfolded.

Cardinal Sin, in a radio station, Radio Veritas, urged his flock to mass around Camp Crame to protect the coup plotters from a certain slaughter as the marines and their tanks were inching their way to quell the military mutiny. Initially, in thousands, then millions, the Filipinos gathered around the military camp to protect , ironically, the coup plotters. Broadcast throughout the world were scenes of people kneeling on the streets and praying the rosary to block the incoming tanks, while others gave flowers to the government soldiers.

A day before, there was uncertainty. It appeared the bloodbath would ensue. Ferdinand Marcos and his ever loyal cousin, Gen. Fabian Ver, then the Chief of Staff, had ordered to use force to retake the camp. February 24, 1986, my friends who were already in the underground movement could not be found anymore. They were preparing for a civil war. In a meeting among student leaders in the school newspaper’s office, those who opted to wage war with the pen had decided to bear arms when the shots in Camp Crame would be fired. When I saw into the eyes of my friends, I saw nothing but a resolved that I have not seen before, a resolve that they would even forget their families who would be against carrying arms. Before we disbanded, my group who were student leaders in the university agreed that should there be bloodbath the following day, we would form a group and join the ensuing civil war.

That night, I was so appeased with myself knowing that my short stint in this universe would be part of worthy cause. But alas, when I woke up very late in the day of February 25, 1986, the Filipinos breathed the fresh air of freedom. The rosaries halted tanks, the roses melted the hearts of the Marcos loyal army; in a word, the unarmed army of nuns, priests, young, old, poor, middle class, and the elite vanquished the hearts of the fully-armed military. The hearts of the military men were subdued with the idea of peace and compassion , and as the saying goes, when the heart is captured, the mind collapses. In a bloodless revolution, the Filipinos made history by ousting a dictator.

That day, I was giving shake hands and high fives to my group. Deep in our hearts, we knew that our pen won over the sword, the idea of freedom triumphed over tyranny.

Months after, in June 1986, I started my serious study of law. My friends pursued their respective careers. The concerns of the country took a backseat. From my pen, for so many years, flowed only legal thesis and briefs.

… A re-examination

Little did we realize that while we have been busy building our respective careers, the politicians have squandered the gains of EDSA revolution.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in 2004, was my choice over Fernando Poe, Jr. But when GMA was sworn into office, scams after scams have been hounding her administration. The fertilizer scam in which funds for agricultural programs were diverted for the election campaign , the most expensive Diosdado Macapagal highway, and now the ZTE deal in which a project which is worth $130 millions ballooned to $300 millions due to over-price.

But what is alarming is not the corruption. In democracies throughout the globe, corruption hounds governments, even in the US. But when the fundamental idea of democracy and the rule of law is assaulted, then the administration reeks of authoritarian tendencies. The democracy which EDSA 1986 is under seized. President Arroyo issued Presidential Proclamation granting her emergency powers without concurrence from congress. She issued executive order not allowing government officials to attend senate hearings without the consent of the president, thereby curtailing the powers of the legislative branch and an affront of the people’s right to be informed. And even as the Supreme Court nullified these orders, she flaunted executive power by defying the decisions. The spate of extra-judicial killings of political activists. The latest was when Jun Lozada, the star witness of the ZTE scam, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, he was abducted by military personnel who allegedly, in the style of Ninoy’s assassination, were sent to secure the former.

The tentacles of dictatorship, wherever and whenever, they emerge, should be cut and disabled. Any attempt at curtailing freedom must be opposed. We had our lessons in Marcos when due to our initial apathy as a nation, he mangled democracy and strangled us to fear and submission.

Should there be a repeat of EDSA, no one could tell. The original EDSA was not spawned with one idea nor by one group nor by one event. That phenomenon was a confluence of events which not one group nor ideology nor event can claim to be the parent. Let EDSA be an orphan whose moment of victory is claimed by many parents . And another EDSA? Not one can give birth to it. But whatever may be the outcome, there is a need for us to build our dreams alongside the concerns of our country. We have to get involved in the most effective way we can. It took us twenty years to oust a dictator, and regain democracy, it will only take a year to unmake democracy with the acquiescence of the people.

historical movements

Time and again, the debate rages: what determines  movements, historical moments or men?

Two years ago, when Barack  Obama is not known here in the Philippines, a friend of mine told me, after his brief visit in the United States, that the next US president would be Barack Obama.  I asked what party does he belong?  He quipped: Democrat.  In a staccato fashion, I unleashed arguments that Hillary Clinton would be the nominee and would trounce the republican in a general election.  Although as for Hillary ,  there is a perception that she will say anything just to win, her intelligence and experience is a plus for America, and the rest of the world.

Little did I realize now that the prediction of my friend is becoming a reality.  Barack  Obama, save perhaps for the super delegates, will lord it over Hillary.

The US, for the last seven years and more, has been led by a Texan Cowboy who thinks more by his holster than his brain.  George Bush presidency has been marked by incompetence and misplaced priorities, waging wars, then doling-out billions  to war-torn countries while being unable to halt the rising unemployment, and the home mortgages crisis.  All these add-up to the historical moments the Americans are revolting against, and are wanting to rectify, pronto, through the polls.

The confluence of events, that is, the present historical moment, is giving rise to a movement made flesh by Barack Obama, he who represents  vision, and hope.  From 9/11, and onwards,  Bush has created his own historical counterpoint: hope instead of the present dispair, and vision instead of blinded pursuit for nuclear arsenal that does not exist.

The Bush debacle is opening the call for clear vision, for a battlecry that can lead the citizens from the mess the leaders have created.  Between Hillary  and Obama, the latter is the natural counterpoint for Bush.  Hillary may have the experience and the wit, but she is not a fresh alternative.  She is not a break from the present, and the US under her helm will still carry the guilt of the past.  Obama is a fresh face, a visionary who inspires  and the light  upon which the rest pin their hope.

The fund raising is a good indicator.  Obama raises campaign funds from small donors who come in droves; Hillary has big but few donors who are very much part of the status quo.

The historical moments have produced the movement and Obama is riding on its crest.Bush has led the nation to discontent, dissent, if not dispair.  People want a new vision which is a total departure from the status quo.  Obama represents that vision. And when the multitude show support to the  campaign coffers, no obstacle can stop its parade to victory.  Anyone who  stands on the way will just drown and sweep ashore.

Obama is not  the creator but a mere creature of the movement: He happens to best exemplify the dream the multitude have for the country.  JFK  may have endeared to a lot of Americans.  But I wonder what would have become of him if not for the historical moment of his time: the emergence of television.  If not for that medium, his sound bites could not have been heard, and his royale presence could have gone unnoticed by the world without the tv sets.

In 1986, in the Philippines, Cory Aquino, a non-politician, once a mere housewife, was catapulted to highesh office , not necessarily of her own merit, but the historical givens that ignite in the multitude the fire to replace a dictatorship.  Cory, a non-politician, a mere housewife (pardon the modifier mere, but it indeed captured the sentiment of the times), represents something fresh, a break of the past, and the harbinger of a new vision.

JFK.  Cory Aquino. Martin Luther King.  These men lived in a historical moment that  created the movement which catapulted them to prominence.  They were icons of the movements of their times.

Barack Obama maybe a mere creature of the movement that resents the historical moment George Bush has led the Americans into.  But do not obstruct the creature in his march to victory.  He represents the movement that is incessant, unstoppable.  You cannot stop the flow of the surging waves: the oppositors will just be swept ashore.

the fallacy of republicanism

I resolved not to comment at least on print medium on political events anymore. The last time I did way back in 1986 when I was still in college, the university president summoned me and the military listed me in the order of battle . Besides, any political comment will have to involve constitutional issues, and owing to my daily dose of legal briefs, I have enough, so I thought.

But the recent political brouhaha in the Philippines leave me with no recourse but to play political pundit once again, even if only for this issue.Last night, I slept not late in the evening, but early hour of the morning as I was glued to the tv monitor. Flashed in the screen were the faces of our congressmen as they explained, in a nominal voting, their votes to unseat the present Speaker of the House, Jose De Venecia. JDV as he is fondly called, has been speaker for five (5) terms, a record in the legislative branch. He did so by astute political manuevering, patronage, concessions, accomodations, and puppetting for the President. He shielded President Gloria Arroyo from several impeachment attempts. He is the perfect icon of traditional politician.

Lately, however, he fell from grace, and last night, he was finally shut off from the corrigidors of power. His idealist son was the whistle blower of an anomalous transaction of the government with a Chinese company, ZTE, involving an over-price of around US $200,000,000.00. The testimony of his son before the senate traced the anomaly to the spouse of the incumbent president, Mike Arroyo. Exposed to the searching light of media scrutiny, the Arroyo’s ego was bruised, and revenge must be made, and indeed, it was had last night.

Jose de Venecia delivered an extemporaneous, albeit scathing speech, outlining how he helped President Arroyo for almost two decades, and the anomalous transactions that he has personal knowledge, and by reading between the lines, he helped cover-up. Despite the two decades of friendship (or is it alliance?) , like Ceasar being stabbed by Brutus, the flaming arrows of tricks and deceptions, hit him from all angles, and to cap it all, even from the people he once considered friends.But more than the attack on the president, the speech hightlighted the fallacy of republicanism, the same fallacy that I took note when I was still taking up political philosophy.

In a republican state, sovereignty resides and emanates from the people. But the people elect their representatives and leaders to run the state. To check the abuses of the leaders, three branches of government are set up: congress, to enact laws; the president to execute the laws; and the judiciary, to interpret the laws. This is the system of check and balance necessary to keep democracy throbbing, and prevent the consolidation of power in one branch. Once power is concentrated in one branch, the other branches lose their independence, and democracy collapses. Then, it is not the voice of the people that governs, but the voice of the president.

Yet the Congress and the Supreme Court are beholden to the President. The power to appropriate comes from Congress, but the disbursement must come come from the president. During the impeachment proceedings, congressmen had to rally to the president or else the pork barrel, the money for their favorite projects, would not be released by the president. As pointed out by Jose de Venecia, the congressmen have to kneel before the sub-alterns of the president before the budget be released.

When a branch of government depends on the other to finance the projects, you can always expect the consolidation of power in the president. President Arroyo, having been raised in the corridors of power when her father was once the president, knows exactly how to consolidate power.

Last night, President Arroyo and her minions, err puppies, ousted de Venecia, and enthroned another pup, Boy Nograles. I do not like de Venecia, but my blood boils with the wanton display and arrogance of power. President Arroyo’s sons virtually installed Speaker Nograles, and consideing the partonage politics, the latter has to lick the hand of the president. Speaker Nograles has to bow to the dictates of the president or he will soon follow his predecessor, to the exit door. Any pretense then of republican democracy is a sham, a fallacy.

I dread the idea of a president consolidating power. The last time was President Marcos, who, having tested martial law powers, never let go of the throne until he was forcibly evicted by the repository of power – the people. Look what happened during Marcos time: the economy was plundered, civil service militarized, and the people who opposed, killed. Worse, the culture of corruption spread like cancer cells that have metastasized.

There is need to strengthen the fences between the three branches of government. Strong fences make good neighbors. Destroy the fences, you lose republicanism. But strong fences make a good democracy. Allowing the congressman to have pork barrels open them to the bait of the president. Stop the pork barrel, and the president would have no fishing rod with which to strangle the independence of the Congress.

It took me several years to speak in open against Marcos. This time, I cannot let history repeat itself.

Let me be a pundit once more.