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.
