MANILA, Philippines - Three years after the iconic 1986 People Power Revolution which resulted in the overthrow of the Martial Law regime, the world would again witness another series of outcries for democracy. In what ended with bloodshed in 1989, thousands of young students braved the Tiananmen Square in China to revolt against the government’s corruption and despotic rule. The following months, hammers became the iconic images symbolic of one of the greatest political transitions in history—the Fall of the Berlin Wall. This would free East Germany from a 40-year-long oppression by Big Brother and reunite them the Western bloc for political and social reforms. All these happened without the fear of political power or force but a long-restrained outrage and crucial need for liberal democracy.
If you’d ask many young Filipinos today, hardly do they understand the significance of the very first People Power in the Philippines, compared to the history we’ve witnessed firsthand and what we’ve learned when we were growing up a decade ago.
In the few years that followed the Revolution, the memories of February 22 to 25 still remained fresh in the minds of many people who fought as unsung heroes of that milestone. But the most vivid memories of the People Power I anniversary celebrations that I can recall were during the early 1990s. In the morning, our neighborhood in the Crame area would be wakened up by the noise of the helicopters heading to either Camp Crame or Aguinaldo, while confetti would rain from the sky almost all day.
Before the concrete bridges and railway systems stood on this national highway, people would crowd the stretch of EDSA from P. Tuazon Street in Cubao to the Ortigas area to join the annual celebration of the Revolution.
Some would join the celebration because of the fanfare and merrymaking along the highway, where makeshift stores of food and other goods sprawled out, as well as vendors selling Ninoy and Cory memorabilia. There would also be the traditional Thanksgiving Mass at the EDSA Shrine, followed by an entertainment spectacle all day with celebrities performing and politicians joining in either in the stage or with the audience. At night, star-studded presentations would flock thousands of screaming fans, while jamming and dancing along with the stars.
In 1992, EDSA was narrowed by the flyovers and bridges although these new infrastructures would not stop the festivities every February 25. Young students like me would be very excited because it would be declared as a special holiday and no classes for students. From our family residence on Fourth Avenue, we could easily head on the empty EDSA, which became our playground when EDSA would be closed for traffic during that special day.
For children like us who grew up enjoying these special occasions, EDSA Revolution became something we always looked forward to. More than just the festivities and street parties, people were celebrating democracy.
But years after, EDSA has become a busier, crowded and narrower highway. During the late 90s, we would no longer experience the same kind of celebration as we used to during the previous years. EDSA would already be open to traffic except for the Ortigas area. There were fewer people crowding the street and the spirit of the First People Power Revolution in the country could no longer be felt.
Hardly could anyone imagine that, again, this same highway would gather crowds of young people for another attempt to oust a country leader, who was believed to have failed with his promises to bring back the glory in the country. In 2001, it was different EDSA Revolution that marked another historic milestone. Since the start of this decade, all I could remember of February 25 was a no-school holiday, which could be moved to another date for as long as it would fall on the weekend or on a Monday. There were hardly any parties or mass celebrations around EDSA but a morning Mass at the Shrine which the EDSA hero, Corazon “Cory” Aquino, never failed to celebrate.
The EDSA Revolution of 1986 had truly inspired many people who struggle for freedom from the hands of their despotic government. But today, many EDSA revolutionists would agree that the significance of this event has become a faded glory during the last few years and it is now overshadowed by political conflicts that have ruined much of the country’s unity and real value of freedom that earlier generations won over the years of dictatorial regime.
Decades after Germany’s reunification, the recent uprisings in the Middle East countries that ousted their state heads, and other people power revolutions that were inspired by EDSA, it now leaves me asking, has democracy done better for the country?