HOTSPOT
Tonyo Cruz
As of press time, I haven’t seen or heard commemorations of the second People Power uprising’s 22nd anniversary this past week, either official state-led ceremonies or alternative events. Neither have we heard of preparations to mark the 37th anniversary of the first People Power uprising.
This cannot possibly be good for us as a people and a country.
The two uprisings gifted us and the rest of the world a blueprint for a democratic way to bring down corrupt leaders. We were the talk of the world in those heady days around Feb. 22-25, 1986 and Jan. 16-20, 2001. We ourselves were amazed by our capacity, unity and power to decide on matters that affect us as a nation. We operationalized in the most direct way the words of the Constitution: Sovereignty resides in the people. Power emanates from the people.
I was there at EDSA 2 of 2001, and I’m proud that I witnessed history in the making. No, my friends and I were happy to have actually participated in history-making.
Some friends, like Mong Palatino of UP, led contingents from colleges and universities, while others marched with trade unionists and neighborhood associations. I saw activist leaders holding hands with priests in the frontlines of marches going to EDSA.
Other friends and acquaintances who were in the provinces were out, rallying in their own major thoroughfares, municipios, city halls, and capitols.
Others such as Ruth Cervantes and I found ourselves onstage at the EDSA Shrine. Starting on Jan. 17, we became co-emcees of the rally programs in the late afternoon, with Behn Cervantes as director. The different formations shared the organizing chores of the rally programs. We were with the program committee of Bayan.
When a most prominent artist decided to openly join the uprising, we were summoned to the Bayan office in Sikatuna Village to organize a press conference. The leaders and the artist felt that there should be an announcement before going to the EDSA Shrine.
Anyway, the press conference was a huge success, catapulting the announcement to a major headline story on television and radio news. We were told people were talking about it positively at EDSA. That was around lunch time of Jan. 18.
By the afternoon of Jan. 18, during the Bayan-led program, Nora Aunor arrived at EDSA to wild cheers from the public. She walked through the crowd from the opposite end of the rally, with labor icon Crispin Beltran and peasant leader Rafael Mariano holding her hands. Pandemonium erupted when she finally reached the stage where people saw their diminutive superstar as a fellow rebel like them.
La Aunor’s happy arrival at EDSA was a marked contrast to the outrage that met a senator, who was among those who voted against opening the controversial second envelope at the impeachment. When he tried to go there unannounced and uninvited, he unleashed the fury of an indignant people. Upon being seen near the shrine’s steps fronting EDSA, he got pushed, shoved and chased away.
In the morning of Jan. 20, President Estrada hurriedly left the palace through the Pasig River, onboard a barge. It helped that tens of thousands were marching excitedly from EDSA to Mendiola, ready to encircle and lay siege on Malacañang if the president would refuse to step down. Neighborhoods were giving water and food to the marchers.
The president’s quick exit left the throngs at Mendiola both happy and surprised. Happy for the uprising’s victory, and surprised that no struggle, vigil, or stand-off was needed. Many thought the president would be too stubborn to give up power. And so the program abruptly ended at the foot of Mendiola. Ka Satur Ocampo and the legendary urban poor firebrand Carmen Deunida thanked and congratulated the people, and called on them to remain vigilant because the change in the name of the occupant in Malacañang does not automatically translate to positive change in the people’s favor.
That reminder from Ka Satur and Nanay Mameng was unfortunately lost to many. The leaders and politicians who became the main beneficiaries of EDSA Dos arguably forgot why the uprising happened.
Since 2016, many have preached that the EDSA uprisings should just be forgotten and never repeated.
Worse, they claimed that they’re both bad for the country. To prove their point, they said not a lot of good have happened since both events, enumerating offenses that happened after each of the uprisings. What brought the people to rise up is often conveniently left out.
As we approach the EDSA 1986 anniversary, we might see how the President would remember and commemorate it. But regardless, that’s really not up to the President. That for the people in “People Power” to decide on its meaning, importance and relevance.