Several
years have passed after the famous people power revolution that shaped the
world of politics. Now, we are commemorating its 28th anniversary! People
power became the paradigm of a peaceful and non aggressive kind of revolution,
thus resulting for many other countries to copy this scheme or tactic to reform
their own government. The 1986 revolution sprung when Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino
– a politician who is close to the hearts of the Filipino people- got
assassinated. Philippines blamed its current President that time, saying that
he hired a hit-man to execute the former. But of course, this
accusations wasn’t proved, up until today. Even if the Revolution was said to be serene,
it was not an easy action for all the Filipino people to accomplish their
fervent desire to oust the late President Ferdinand Marcos from the presidential seat. Thousands of Filipinos marched towards EDSA equipped with no
firearms but only with courage and faith, fighting for freedom from President
Ferdinand Marcos’ so-called widespread repression of rights. The yearning of the Filipino
people for a concrete political change was a struggle but was later on accomplished
because of their spirit of unity.
This
rich history of Philippines is an inspiration but do you still remember this
event? Or for the youngsters of this generation, do we recall what our parents
and forefathers told us; or do we really understand the importance of this
historical event? Most of us often have our memories scrubbed by other phenomenon
that occur in our personal/social lives. Like for instance, a politician was
found guilty of corruption today; he runs as a mayor tomorrow, covering his errs
by lending small helps; and get elected the next day. We tend to forget their
multitudes of wickedness because we were swayed by their deceits. After 28
years, did we really gain democracy? Are we better off today than we were
before the EDSA Revolution happened? Or are we simply spinning on the same
place? I most certainly agree of what the Article I read quoted -- we have a
grand memory for forgetting. There were many people involved in the occurrence
of this Revolution that possessed hidden debauched agenda. Yet, despite of
their wickedness and ravenousness, they are still seated in numerous seats of
our Philippine Government. I like the way the other blogger put into words the thing that I
was trying to point out, and he said, “Filipinos are fascinated by ideas; ideas
feed our spirits”. Which is, for me, relatively true. We get fascinated whenever the People’s champ wins a fight, a young Filipino
man qualified for the Sochi Olympics, a famous celebrity got mauled and was
accused of rape and the list goes on. These things sugarcoats our society’s
bitter reality. If we truly achieved the ideal democracy that we want, why is
it so that there is this extreme scandal happening in Philippine Politics today?
If we truly desire for a better country, why do we still elect “officially
corrupt” politicians to run our nation? If we truly want to be agents for
change, why are we still sitting around and not doing anything?
February 25, 1986 made us proud to be
Filipinos. But then we defeat the purpose of the People Power Revolution by leaving its idea a mere idea and not really act upon it. As one of the Filipino Blogger would say, in closing, “25 years from now, I do not want to see a country proud because of
a boxer or a singer. I do not want to see a country proud because we have the
highest remittances from overseas workers. I want to see a country proud because, finally, we realized the hopes
thrown along the yellow confetti and plans written on a linen paper. I want to
see a country still fascinated by ideas yet moving forward and celebrating with
actions.
Today, I celebrate
with the rest of the Philippines for the 25th anniversary of our first peaceful
revolution.
Today, I also weep for the 28 years of lost opportunities.”
(c) The Black Twig, Juan Mercado, Official Gazette
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