Why celebrate EDSA People Power

EDSA 1986 was the culmination of the People Power Movement that resulted in the overthrowing of the Marcos dictatorship and the restoration of democracy to the Philippines. This struggle for the restoration of democracy began on the night Marcos declared martial law in 1972 and jailed thousands of Filipinos.

People Power did not begin during those four days in February. In order to understand its real beginnings, let me quote from a speech by Corazon Aquino which she gave on Oct. 24, 1995 at the University of Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy. Here are the relevant excerpts from her speech:

“Perhaps my personal retelling of the restoration of democracy in our country could begin with the willing sacrifice of his life which my husband, Ninoy Aquino, made on his return to Manila on 21 August 1983...

Thus my husband’s death —  his martyrdom, if you will — for all those who lined up to his battered body became a symbol of what people were undergoing, and a symbol too of the hundreds who had given or were giving their lives for the deliverance of our nation. Thousands lined up to view Ninoy’s body; the wake found a theme, “Hindi ka nag-iisa”; you are not alone. Hundreds have been jailed, hundreds killed like you. You are not alone, your people are with you. You are not alone, for now you have awakened us, and we are here with you. In a true sense, people power was born there, where his broken body lay.

“Unless a grain of wheat dies; it remains but one grain. If it falls to the earth and dies, it brings forth a great harvest. He who holds on to his life shall lose it, but he who loses his life in the world, shall keep it unto everlasting life. ( John 12, 24-25 ). His funeral, ten days later, from the Dominican church near our house, lasted ten hours, and some two million people sent a single message to the dictator that they were willing to be counted with Ninoy, “You are no longer alone, we are here with you.”

“Thus, we could say, did the history of ‘People Power‘ begin. In the next two years it would gather momentum. Across the entire political and ideological spectrum, more and more people took courage to join, in rallies and the ‘parliament of the streets,’ where even elder leaders joined the increasingly committed young, in print and in clandestine broadcast, in guerrilla battles in the hills. If some ideological lines held stubbornly, still the more moderate sectors began to coalesce. The church sector became increasingly involved; priests, seminarians and sisters; bishops — if belatedly — speaking out in defense of human rights. Even in the public media the convictions of religious beliefs began more and more openly to speak to the worsening situation.”

The rest of the story is — as they say — now history. Marcos called for snap elections thinking, I suppose, that he could still cheat and intimidate his way to an electoral victory. A campaign gathered more than one million authentic signatures urging Corazon Aquino to run for president.

Marcos had the guns, goons and gold but Cory Aquino had the people. In spite of a clear victory by Aquino, Marcos declared he had won the elections. A series of post election rallies started together with a call for civil disobedience.

Then came the four days of February 1986. Many different stories have been told and retold about those miraculous days. In her speech at the University of the Sacred Heart, President Corazon Aquino told her audience: “People Power had prayer at its core. What did happen without violence and bloodshed would not have been possible without faith and prayer. If you do not believe in miracles in our time, at least you cannot deny that the people who wrought this dramatic turnover of power drew their courage from prayer and their faith in God. One of our bishops spoke of “a thousand little miracles making the historic event possible” — for in the gathered thousands in our streets God truly walked among us to restore our land to us.”

The People Power celebration is not just remembering those who gave up their lives in order to restore democracy to this country. It is not just recalling the millions who linked their arms together and faced down the tanks and soldiers that had been sent by the Marcoses to disperse them. These four days of remembrance is a constant reminder that the people must never be lulled into thinking that the struggle to remain a democracy is over.

During the presidency of Corazon Aquino there were seven serious coup attempts with the intent of replacing a democratically elected President and Congress with a junta. Today we hear rumors of several personalities again instigating coup talks and the replacement of the present government with different versions of a junta.

The political forces called the “Left” never joined EDSA. They were trapped in their Marxist doctrine that power comes only through the barrel of the gun. A non-violent people power movement that could topple a military dictatorship was obviously beyond their understanding. Today the “Left” is again exposing its rejection of democracy by proposing that the nation’s leaders should be chosen by a “transition council” and not through elections.

The ideals of democracy are freedom to think, to speak, to act and to worship as long we respect the rights of other people. But democracy demands that the people have the right to choose – through free and fair elections – the leaders of the nation.

The celebration of the People Power Movement and EDSA is a tribute to its past heroes and martyrs and a constant reminder that democracy will always be under constant threat from forces who know that their political agendas could never be won in a democratic election.

We have just celebrated the 29th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Movement. Let us, as a nation, hope that future generations of Filipinos will continue to celebrate these Four February Days.

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