Never forget the days from Feb. 22 to Feb. 25 back in 1986, the apex of the sustained campaign on civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud, led through a series of popular non-violent demonstrations by patriotic Filipinos rich and poor, young and old, all religious affiliations, urbanites and mga promdi — now known as the People Power Revolution or the EDSA Revolution, held mainly in the long stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in Metro Manila.
More than two million Filipino civilians, several political and military groups, and religious groups led by Jaime Cardinal Sin, who called on the people to go to EDSA to protect former Defense Sec. Juan Ponce Enrile and former Gen. Fidel Ramos (who later became Philippine president), who were holed out at Camp Crame, and were set to be arrested for turning against the Dictator Marcos.
The overwhelming response of the people is now known as the Spirit of EDSA.
That non-violent Spirit of EDSA gathering 36 years ago in 1986 was an image of the people’s collective seething fury, frustration, resistance, and opposition to 21 years years of blatant government abuse of power, self-serving governance, and ostentatious display of unexplained wealth by the Dictator, Ferdinand Edralin Marcos and his family, relatives, and their cronies, despite abject poverty of majority of its Filipino citizens.
The Marcos dictatorship culminated with the Dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his Junior, Bongbong Marcos (that time dressed in camouflage military outfit), and his family and cronies fleeing Malacañang Palace on a helicopter, and exiled to Hawaii with the help of the US government.
How can we allow collective amnesia to revise this historical fact?
Now, EDSA 36 is an urgent called to fight historical revisionism and remember the Spirit of EDSA.
The current political stage seems set for the return of the Marcoses and their brand of dictatorial leadership, with the late Dictator’s son Bongbong Marcos Jr. as candidate for president in the 2022 presidential elections.
Are the Filipinos ready for a return to the dark ages of infirmed corrupt governance, laced with greed, corruption, and violence?
The electoral run of Marcos Jr. and a Duterte, who both promised to carry out the “legacy of their fathers”, should awaken everyone to this looming nightmare.
I cannot imagine how some people are eager to vote for Marcos Jr. who continues to deny the atrocities that marked his father’s dictatorship, and whose family continues to refuse to acknowledge their sins and crimes against the Filipino people?
The Marcos family has long claimed the so-called Solid North as its own voting bloc, but professionals in the Region, known as the “Ilocanos for Leni” have since come out publicly not only to campaign against Bongbong Marcos but to openly declare their support for his rival Leni Robredo, citing Marcos’ lackluster performance as governor.
It can be recalled that Bongbong was already 23 years old when he became governor of Ilocos Norte; indeed he was a major player during the Martial Law years.
Jose Rizal’s words continue to ring true today: Ang dili molingi sa gigikanan, dili moabot sa iyang padul-ngan! (He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never reach his destination.)
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it! What happened yesterday affects today and tomorrow. Pay attention to the mistakes that our leaders made before, and the successes we may have gained to find what route to take.
On May 9, let us go out and vote wisely.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
