I was all of six then when the People Power Revolution came to pass, but I have vivid memories of it, though, to some, it’s just a dim memory for them now. Every time I hear the People Power songs Magkaisa (by Virna Lisa Loberiza) and Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo (by Apo Hiking Society), their tunes really bring back memories. They awaken poignant memories of vicious days. That is, those I saw on TV, newspapers, and magazines. I have a very vivid picture of the first time I saw former president Corazon Aquino on TV. Later on, after 10 years, I buried myself in one of her magazine articles I set aside in my baul. I realised how brilliant, remarkable, cool her ideas were. I’ve really thought highly of her phraseology.
Our history books and oral history, by the way, put us in the picture that it was a string of passive revolutions and prayerful street protests in the Philippines that suggested itself in 1986. It marked the refurbishment of our country’s democracy. It is, now and then, described as the Yellow Revolution owing to yellow ticker tapes during the coming of president Benigno Aquino III’s father, Benigno, Jnr, the senator who could perhaps put back president Ferdinand Marcos but was snuffed out at the tarmac. These protests were the finale of a long crusade of civil struggle by the people against the 20-year running relentless, tyrannical government of authoritarian president Marcos.
The greater part of the demonstrations took place at Edsa in Quezon City, and drawn in over two million Filipino civilians on top of several political, military, and religious figures. The protests, fueled by a battle and antagonism of years of shady ascendancy by former president Marcos, occurred in February 1986, when Marcos took off Malacañang Palace to the Hawaii and conceded to Corazon Aquino, Asia's first female president, as the lawful leader of this country. Just last year, the then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said: Cory Aquino helped lead a revolution that restored democracy and the rule of law to our nation at a time of great peril. She picked up the standard from the fallen warrior Ninoy and helped lead our nation to a brighter day.
Some military leaders, dismayed by the evident election irregularities, set into motion an attempt of coup d'état against Marcos. The early plan was for a squad to beat up Malacañang Palace and take Ferdinand Marcos into custody.
When Marcos, however, learned about the scheme, he ordered the apprehension of the mutinous leaders, and presented to the international and local journalists some of the captured conspirators.
On the 22nd of February, as dawn was breaking, Juan Ponce Enrile, then AFP chief of staff, and Fidel Ramos, his vice chief, publicised that they had given up their their positions in Marcos's cabinet and were withdrawing support from his administration. Marcos himself in a while conducted his own news conference calling on Enrile and Ramos to capitulate.
Cardinal Sin urged Filipinos to come to the aid of the mutinous leaders by going to Edsa stucked between camps Crame and Aguinaldo and giving emotional support, foodstuff, and other provisions. For many, this looked as if a risky choice since civilians would not stand a chance against dispersion by government troops. Nonetheless, a lot of people, mainly priests and nuns, came to Edsa in droves. It was believed that the radio, Radio Veritas, had played a decisive role during the civil disobedience.
Marcos talked to US senator Paul Laxalt, asking for counsel from the White House. Laxalt advised him to cut and cut cleanly, to which Marcos expressed his dissatisfaction following a short awkward moment. At 9 in the evening, the Marcoses and their allies were transferred by four US Navy helicopters to Clark Air Base in Angeles City about 83 kilometres north of Manila, before getting on US Air Force C-130 planes heading for Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, and lastly to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii at which the Marcoses arrived on the 26th of February.
As the news of Marcos's going away was relayed around, a lot of people expressed joy and bopped to the music in the streets. The protesters were finally able to go into Malacañang Palace, long denied to ordinary Filipinos in the past decade. Works of art were pillaged from the palace, but by and large people moseyed on down to every corner of the palace, looking at the place where all the pronouncements that changed the course of Philippine history had been made.
A lot of people around the world were glad and passed on good wishes to Filipinos they knew.
The 25th of February 1986, a notable Metro Manila event that has been carved in the hearts and minds of all Filipinos, be it in person or on TV or the radio, gives us a strong sense of pride especially that other countries had tried to follow what we have made known in the world of the true power of a democratic system, such as in Egypt, shown on the BBC just two weeks ago. It was a day that drawn all Filipinos together in unity with bravery and devotion to win through democracy in this country. It was the power of the people, who assembled in Edsa, which brought back the free Philippines, ending the unfair Marcos rule.
Now, far away in the north of this country, the corpse of the former president Marcos, who departed this life in exile in Hawaii in 1989 after being removed from power in the popular protests, lies in a refrigerated vault.
For years, his wife, Imelda, has campaigned for his remains to be given state honours and a hero's burial.
Marcos is so discredited - and his wife so maligned in the press for her lavish lifestyle and corrupt associations - that she has little chance of ever realising her goal. Is it not anachronistic and ridiculous? Can there be no general rule about how a dead exile leader is to be treated? Well, it all depends upon the judgement the present society passes on him. Indignity or ignominy, it is better to dispose of the mortal remains without much ado. If I were his wife, I’d have him buried in remote plots of land without fanfare. Let’s bear no animosity towards president Marcos.
Anyway, Happy People Power Revolution Day!/Panay News Sunday
No comments:
Post a Comment