‘God was with us at Edsa 1’

Twenty years ago today, Filipinos felt God’s presence in their midst when the country regained democracy and freedoms suppressed by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

"It was the day when the presence of God was most felt," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said, looking back at those fateful moments between Feb. 22 and 25, 1986.

Ermita was the first of a handful of generals to defect to the side of then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and PC-INP chief Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos after they broke away from the Marcos administration.

During those critical hours, Ermita recalled that the military and civilians who were with them inside Camp Crame in Quezon City felt only despair upon learning of Marcos’ order to his loyal military troopers to attack the rebels holed up inside the camp.

He recalled that on Feb. 24, 1986, the troops who joined them in Camp Crame heard helicopters and gunships hovering overhead, armed with rocket launchers and heading towards the military camp.

They were praying so intensely, Ermita said, he believed it was sheer divine intervention that saved them all when the tide finally turned in their favor.

To their surprise and great relief, the three choppers did not fire at them but simply landed inside the camp. Stepping down from one of the choppers was their commander, Gen. Antonio Sotelo, who immediately announced they were joining the ranks of the rebels.

"The defection of General Sotelo, which provided the Ramos forces with air power that tipped the scale of victory on the side of freedom, was a miracle that saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and Philippine freedom," Ermita said.

With the defection of Sotelo, the Enrile-Ramos forces acquired air power which they subsequently used to harass loyal Marcos troopers at the Malacañang Palace grounds by dropping several rounds of rockets. That same evening, the former dictator and his family, along with their cronies, were spirited out of the country by American planes to Hawaii.

Ermita credited this as the day when the "miracle of EDSA" happened and Marcos was finally ousted from his 20-year rule over the Philippines.

President Arroyo designated Ermita to chair the EDSA People Power Commission (EPPC), which was tasked to plan for the annual activities to commemorate this important period in Philippine history.

Ermita rued, however, that not all the activities lined up today to mark the 20th EDSA anniversary would proceed as planned after Mrs. Arroyo issued Proclamation 1017 in response to the latest attempts by military adventurists to topple the administration.

He dismissed charges that the President was bent on restoring martial rule in the country which they fought to bring down in EDSA. — Marichu Villanueva