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Written by John Vincent Balustre
Art by Janara Rose Jacosalem
The EDSA People Power Revolution marks its 39th Anniversary today. Recently, universities across the Philippines suspended classes of their own accord after the government declared it a special working holiday. For a historic event like EDSA People Power, stripped of its premium by a ruling namesake of the toppled dictator, is no surprise, let alone the threats that undermine its significance, engendering the question: Where are its promises now?
The Philippines continues to soar as a patient zero in terms of social media disinformation. Consistently, the receiving end of its benefit is Marcos Jr.’s well-oiled campaign to downplay his father’s atrocious regime as a golden age when he ran and won the presidency in 2022.
Now, as the sitting incumbent, his pronouncements on meaningful dates to the nation’s past have always been on the lookout for attempts in conflict with their family’s interest. What would be more mortifying than to celebrate the triumph of the people if it meant alluding to his very own kin as the oppressor no matter how squarely evident it was?
To note, violence such as assassination, torture, trumped-up charges, and disappearances as an apparatus of the state have been an impetus to these flashpoints. While the 1986 People Power Revolution spotlighted in fleeting days the development of people's collective will, the struggle dates back so far as Marcos sought perpetuity in his powers. When the tyrant declared Martial Law in 1972 and manipulated the political system to remain in control, it gave rise to years of resistance from various sectors of society, including activists, opposition politicians, and ordinary citizens.
The revolution was merely the culmination of this prolonged struggle, not its beginning. The death of then-Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., a prominent figure in defiance of the administration, was associated with his unswerving resistance to Marcos Sr. Accordingly, Amnesty International, estimates a total of 70,000 imprisoned people, 34,000 tortured and over a death toll of 3,200 in the nine years after of the despot the imposed martial law
This gross scene of usurpation of power was internationally bared yet valuation studies and surveys conducted by scholars and Social Weather System (SWS), saw a growing positive impression. Nostalgic sentiments followed post-EDSA. Yet notably, this false nostalgia was born after an economic upset, counterintuitively, caused by the dictatorial rule itself.
We cannot also blame the people for the hope that masked their utopian dreams when the system failed them in the process, along with the systemic infodemic that plagued the discourse of facts, which made them susceptible to succumb to these narratives. A new beginning does not exist in isolation with an aspiration for a better one. Hence, the disillusion and resentment of the outcomes of the peaceful revolution.
However, at the outset, EDSA was never meant to cure an ailing country but to put on hold the bleeding. It was a response prompted by the transgressions of Marcos Sr. that compelled Filipinos to swarm in a throng of demonstrations that stretched along the highway of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). Amid the fear of violence breaking out at the height of a moral and political crisis, delegitimizing the head honcho of the land for its crimes against humanity, forcing him and his family to leave the country is a defining moment of history.
To ask whether its promise was fulfilled may be difficult to answer when its sole pledge is to boot out an authoritarian rule from power. Unfortunately, the patriarch’s specter and son were installed again in the very halls that witnessed the clan being exiled.
But to ask in itself should entail both the hope and responsibility to safeguard what we have reaped at the cost of those who took a stand. Indeed, such is already an answer for what questions we else could have now if the grim continues.
Even then, for the new generation that sees EDSA as a distant past, perhaps it is no longer EDSA’s promise to build a forward-looking future, but ours to make. A promise to act against any injustice and defend democracy even in its dispirit outcomes, and above all — never forget.
Fortunately, schools are the fertile grounds for these words of honor. The academe during that time has served as a force of protest. The revolution has done its part. With a brazen bid to downplay its gravity now, it is an integral imperative for institutions to have a fair share of responsibility on its end.
For universities to boast progressives yet find it difficult to make a stand without the need for student clamor requires the reexamining of its ideals. The academic community’s influence proved instrumental as far as social change is concerned. Our declaration, be it suspensions of classes, protests, and activities we hold without interference, says a lot about the integrity we uphold.
But it should not stop there, issues that confront the yesteryears prevail in much worse context today. Corruption, inflation, disinformation, human rights violations, and unresolved offenses of the Marcoses and their cronies to the Filipino people, among others, call for a just and swift resolution.
As we approach another turning point of our collective power through the national election, it is high time that our virtues resonate with the same critical weight the previous generations have taught us. There is a lot more that we can do, such as voting wisely, holding leaders accountable, taking up the cudgels for causes close to us, and safeguarding history against historical denialism, owing that in our current ecosystem of truth, remembrance is resistance after all.
With this, we transform the commemoration from a pinky promise to a vow for the generations to come, ensuring that no burden is left unchallenged for the mere comfort of those in power, remaining unmoved and unshaken.
The EDSA People Power Revolution marks its 39th Anniversary today. Recently, universities across the Philippines suspended classes of their own accord after the government declared it a special working holiday. For a historic event like EDSA People Power, stripped of its premium by a ruling namesake of the toppled dictator, is no surprise, let alone the threats that undermine its significance, engendering the question: Where are its promises now?
The Philippines continues to soar as a patient zero in terms of social media disinformation. Consistently, the receiving end of its benefit is Marcos Jr.’s well-oiled campaign to downplay his father’s atrocious regime as a golden age when he ran and won the presidency in 2022.
Now, as the sitting incumbent, his pronouncements on meaningful dates to the nation’s past have always been on the lookout for attempts in conflict with their family’s interest. What would be more mortifying than to celebrate the triumph of the people if it meant alluding to his very own kin as the oppressor no matter how squarely evident it was?
To note, violence such as assassination, torture, trumped-up charges, and disappearances as an apparatus of the state have been an impetus to these flashpoints. While the 1986 People Power Revolution spotlighted in fleeting days the development of people's collective will, the struggle dates back so far as Marcos sought perpetuity in his powers. When the tyrant declared Martial Law in 1972 and manipulated the political system to remain in control, it gave rise to years of resistance from various sectors of society, including activists, opposition politicians, and ordinary citizens.
The revolution was merely the culmination of this prolonged struggle, not its beginning. The death of then-Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., a prominent figure in defiance of the administration, was associated with his unswerving resistance to Marcos Sr. Accordingly, Amnesty International, estimates a total of 70,000 imprisoned people, 34,000 tortured and over a death toll of 3,200 in the nine years after of the despot the imposed martial law
This gross scene of usurpation of power was internationally bared yet valuation studies and surveys conducted by scholars and Social Weather System (SWS), saw a growing positive impression. Nostalgic sentiments followed post-EDSA. Yet notably, this false nostalgia was born after an economic upset, counterintuitively, caused by the dictatorial rule itself.
We cannot also blame the people for the hope that masked their utopian dreams when the system failed them in the process, along with the systemic infodemic that plagued the discourse of facts, which made them susceptible to succumb to these narratives. A new beginning does not exist in isolation with an aspiration for a better one. Hence, the disillusion and resentment of the outcomes of the peaceful revolution.
However, at the outset, EDSA was never meant to cure an ailing country but to put on hold the bleeding. It was a response prompted by the transgressions of Marcos Sr. that compelled Filipinos to swarm in a throng of demonstrations that stretched along the highway of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). Amid the fear of violence breaking out at the height of a moral and political crisis, delegitimizing the head honcho of the land for its crimes against humanity, forcing him and his family to leave the country is a defining moment of history.
To ask whether its promise was fulfilled may be difficult to answer when its sole pledge is to boot out an authoritarian rule from power. Unfortunately, the patriarch’s specter and son were installed again in the very halls that witnessed the clan being exiled.
But to ask in itself should entail both the hope and responsibility to safeguard what we have reaped at the cost of those who took a stand. Indeed, such is already an answer for what questions we else could have now if the grim continues.
Even then, for the new generation that sees EDSA as a distant past, perhaps it is no longer EDSA’s promise to build a forward-looking future, but ours to make. A promise to act against any injustice and defend democracy even in its dispirit outcomes, and above all — never forget.
Fortunately, schools are the fertile grounds for these words of honor. The academe during that time has served as a force of protest. The revolution has done its part. With a brazen bid to downplay its gravity now, it is an integral imperative for institutions to have a fair share of responsibility on its end.
For universities to boast progressives yet find it difficult to make a stand without the need for student clamor requires the reexamining of its ideals. The academic community’s influence proved instrumental as far as social change is concerned. Our declaration, be it suspensions of classes, protests, and activities we hold without interference, says a lot about the integrity we uphold.
But it should not stop there, issues that confront the yesteryears prevail in much worse context today. Corruption, inflation, disinformation, human rights violations, and unresolved offenses of the Marcoses and their cronies to the Filipino people, among others, call for a just and swift resolution.
As we approach another turning point of our collective power through the national election, it is high time that our virtues resonate with the same critical weight the previous generations have taught us. There is a lot more that we can do, such as voting wisely, holding leaders accountable, taking up the cudgels for causes close to us, and safeguarding history against historical denialism, owing that in our current ecosystem of truth, remembrance is resistance after all.
With this, we transform the commemoration from a pinky promise to a vow for the generations to come, ensuring that no burden is left unchallenged for the mere comfort of those in power, remaining unmoved and unshaken.
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