Nearly a generation after the historic Edsa People Power revolt, Filipinos continue to reflect on its meaning and how it could possible serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration for future generations.
I was a student activist in the First Quarter Storm of 1970. I was among those who were arrested and detained after the imposition of martial rule in September 1972. Through the long, dark night of the dictatorship, I wondered if the day will ever come when we could enjoy our basic freedoms again --- after more than a decade of oppression beneath a façade of normalcy that lulled our people into tacit acceptance of an unjust regime.
The snap elections in February 1986 gave our people the opportunity to express their real sentiments. Corazon Aquino, widow and housewife, became the rallying point of a long-suffering people who finally stood up to assert their sovereignty. Only five years earlier, President Marcos secured a “fresh mandate” when he handily defeated former Defense Secretary Alejo Santos in elections that were called to legitimize the sham lifting of martial law.
When it was all over, there was even dancing in the streets. It felt so good to be a Filipino. “Everything’s right here in the Philippines,” proclaimed a new advertisement of Philippine Air Lines. Notice the double meaning. It was not just the tourist destinations that the flag carrier sought to promote. It was the righting of a wrong signaled by the return to democracy.
Democratic institutions were restored. We began to enjoy the vast democratic space that allowed us to express our ideas without fear of arbitrary arrest or detention. From negative growth, our economy achieved positive GDP numbers barely ten months after EDSA. But it was not, by any reckoning, a seamless transition.
President Corazon Aquino faced and quashed at least seven coup attempts, with the support of the armed forces then led by her Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos, one of two leading heroes of Edsa Uno. In 1992, Mr. Ramos rode on the crest of Mrs. Aquino’s endorsement and eked out a slim victory over the feisty Miriam Defensor Santiago and business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco in a tight race where the eventual winner received 23.2 per cent of all the votes. It was the first peaceful transition in the presidency after 27 years --- a period spanning an entire generation.
But how did the Marcos dictatorship end and how did the march of People Power begin?
It began with the arrest of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. on the night of September 22, 1972. He was then widely considered to be a leading candidate for President after the end of Ferdinand Marcos’ second term in December 1973. But the declaration of martial law changed the entire political landscape. It also changed the course of the lives of the members of my generation.
I was in grade six and barely 12 years old when Mr. Marcos was elected President. I was already 33 years old, with a five-year old daughter, by the time he was swept out of power in February 1986.
Ninoy Aquino opted out of a brief interlude of comfort and normalcy in Boston after he underwent heart surgery. He bravely came home in August 1983 against all dire prognostications and stern warnings. He was killed as he stepped into the airport tarmac. His sacrifice triggered the reawakening and resurgence of an entire nation.
What was it like for him and his family through almost eight years of incarceration and becoming virtually a voice in the wilderness? We only caught glimpses of his old fiery form when he led the Laban slate in the sham 1978 Batasan elections. Only much later did we learn from his wife Cory the extreme pain and suffering inflicted upon her and her children.
It was the massive outpouring of grief and outrage at Ninoy’s funeral that sent shivers down the dictator’s spine and forced his hand to gamble on a snap election that he eventually lost. When our people cried, “Ninoy, hindi ka nag-iisa” they finally claimed his erstwhile lonely --- and seemingly futile --- crusade as their own.
We are told that while detained in Fort Bonifacio (now better known as The Fort or The Global City) Ninoy and Pepe Diokno sang “The Impossible Dream” if only to assure each other they were still alive while in solitary confinement. This was also the theme song of former Antique Governor Evelio Javier when he campaigned for Cory Aquino and was brutally murdered (barely two weeks before Edsa Uno) while protecting her votes.
These are the essential elements of history that are largely unknown to large segments of our population, especially those in the 25-34 years old bracket, who are the children of parents that may or may have not personally witnessed or appreciated the full significance of the events of February 1986.
Ninoy Aquino declared in Boston that “The Filipino is worth dying for.” He defied all warnings and insisted that he would talk to Mr. Marcos to convince the latter that there was still time to stem the tide of a violent revolution, if only he would dismantle the dictatorship and restore democracy.
Cory Aquino stepped into Ninoy’s giant shoes and continued the good fight. Their idealism and commitment to democracy were vindicated when the people heeded their call for peaceful transformation at EDSA Uno.
Our people’s quest for the unreachable star continues.
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