By Jel Santos
As the country commemorated the 34th anniversary of the bloodless revolution that freed the country from the oppression of a dictator, veterans vowed to fight historical revisionism as they trooped to the Ninoy Aquino Monument in Makati to remind the youth of its importance.
(JEL SANTOS / MANILA BULLETIN)
Among the personalities who went to the monument to commemorate the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution were former vice president Jejomar Binay, former senators Rene Saguisag and Sergio Osmeña III, and former tourism secretary Antonio Gonzales.
Binay stressed the salience of commemorating the EDSA Revolution, which freed Filipinos from the regime of former president Ferdinand Marcos.
“We are here to remind the younger generations of the importance of EDSA in our country’s history. Some people seem to forget its essence and the events that led to the bloodless revolution,” said Binay, a human rights lawyer during the martial law period.
He was the first local official appointed by then-President Corazon Aquino after the 1986 EDSA Revolution.
Saguisag, meantime, recalled the events that transpired during the EDSA revolt in 1986.
“Nangonti na rin kaming mga beterano ng EDSA (The number of us EDSA veterans has dwindled) and we were there not only for four days. September 23, 1972, nandoon na kami (we were already there),” the former senator said.
"Nandoon na kami, tiga-abot ng folder nina Ka Pepe Diokno and Tañada (We were already there, handing folders to Ka Pepe Diokno and Lorenzo Tañada)," he added.
The former senator said it is salient to commemorate EDSA to remind millennials "that there was one proud shining moment in our country’s history when the whole world on cable television watched with shock and awe."
The veterans who attended vowed to go around the country and tell the younger generations of the events that happened during the revolution, saying this is their way of battling the historical revisionism currently rampant in society.
They placed flowers at the statue of Ninoy and sang “Bayan Ko” with some of the1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.
From Feb. 22 to 25, 1986, millions of Filipinos came together and flocked to EDSA to dethrone the author of martial rule, ending his authoritarian regime.
(JEL SANTOS / MANILA BULLETIN)
Among the personalities who went to the monument to commemorate the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution were former vice president Jejomar Binay, former senators Rene Saguisag and Sergio Osmeña III, and former tourism secretary Antonio Gonzales.
Binay stressed the salience of commemorating the EDSA Revolution, which freed Filipinos from the regime of former president Ferdinand Marcos.
“We are here to remind the younger generations of the importance of EDSA in our country’s history. Some people seem to forget its essence and the events that led to the bloodless revolution,” said Binay, a human rights lawyer during the martial law period.
He was the first local official appointed by then-President Corazon Aquino after the 1986 EDSA Revolution.
Saguisag, meantime, recalled the events that transpired during the EDSA revolt in 1986.
“Nangonti na rin kaming mga beterano ng EDSA (The number of us EDSA veterans has dwindled) and we were there not only for four days. September 23, 1972, nandoon na kami (we were already there),” the former senator said.
"Nandoon na kami, tiga-abot ng folder nina Ka Pepe Diokno and Tañada (We were already there, handing folders to Ka Pepe Diokno and Lorenzo Tañada)," he added.
The former senator said it is salient to commemorate EDSA to remind millennials "that there was one proud shining moment in our country’s history when the whole world on cable television watched with shock and awe."
The veterans who attended vowed to go around the country and tell the younger generations of the events that happened during the revolution, saying this is their way of battling the historical revisionism currently rampant in society.
They placed flowers at the statue of Ninoy and sang “Bayan Ko” with some of the1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.
From Feb. 22 to 25, 1986, millions of Filipinos came together and flocked to EDSA to dethrone the author of martial rule, ending his authoritarian regime.