manus populi

The public would be half-expecting a bombardment of reminiscent and deeply nostalgic entries pertaining to vague memories and recollections of the series of events that transpired a quarter of a century ago that led to the revolt of a passive phenotype. From the bowels of the proletariat emerged a troubled and besmirched populace whose patience have been tested, and failed in strain, by the selfishness of the Marcos regime, a dictatorship that was in full-swing by then and whose objectives, though lofty at best, deprived the greater majority of justice in its attempt to market a simulacrum of genteel and benevolent nation-building.

If you are here seeking a similar exploration, I apologize, but you will be gravely disappointed. I do not possess the requisite lucidity, and more importantly the piquant memories, that I can cull from to expound the supposed profundity of that point in time. I was barely 3 years old then, a toddler in fact, and most of what I can recall is the ensuing argument between my parents when my mom, then 6-months pregnant with my youngest brother, decided to take part in the rallies, consequently being gassed in her expectant condition.

It is interesting to observe, however, how mass media is quite effectively able to tap into the emotional climate of our nation, inducing nostalgia across multiple generations, even from those who grew up with no memory or first-hand experience of that period in our history, effectuating what could possibly be an approximation of national solidarity. When current events are scrutinized, what we have is a dystopia of social and economic unrest, from a spectrum of citizenship that are more regional and territorial than anything else. But, with the EDSA Revolution, the weaves and wafts of our socio-economic fabric become inconsequential and irrelevant to the almost primal incendiary of People Power. This, of course, excludes the proponents of EDSA Dos, as well as the misnomer that is EDSA Tres. In fact, I firmly believe that both latter usages of the EDSA People Power Revolution designation tends to dilute and obfuscate the extent and relevance that the original warranted, which was to overthrow the venality of a dictatorship through passive defiance.

In all that has been said and written about EDSA, what has transpired in its wake, it is almost absurd how very little we have progressed 25 years in its aftermath. Yes, martial law is but a distant memory, albeit a vague one for the younger generations, but the same issues we had back then; corruption, the brain drain, migration, graft and poverty, private armies, all these things are still present. What is more unsettling is that it persists sans the gag order, systematic white-washing and selective information dissemination. Once in a while, something so devastating happens that the media finds it difficult to prevent exploitation by overexposure, extracting it for all it’s sensationalist worth. For the most part, the opinion of the masses become amorphous silt swayed and altered by the polarizing myopia of media, enforcing a perspective chosen and decided on for them, feeding on the assumption that the voice of the media is the pulse of the nation, that the popular is right.

As the general public follow in subservience and curious interest the unfolding drama of our political circus, the middle class, the true strength of a democracy, its proletariat, remain partly indifferent and patient. We sit idle, maintaining semblances of normalcy, continuing the struggle for survival in this grossly non-equitable economy erstwhile to this day feeding the coffers of the elite with wealth undeserved, while the rest of the populace remain within the clutches of poverty and ignorance, a widening abyss of disparity between the privileged and the barely persevering.

A quandary presents itself then, does EDSA/ the People Power Revolution and what it stands for, remain relevant today? When the tenets of democracy have been lost in the muddled mess that is organized corruption? When the voice of the people is but a faint cry amidst a sea of cheers? When the promise of a national identity is way farther and ambiguous, distant and unattainable than it ever were? When the dreams of a globalized and global culture have overtaken those of finding commonality in diversity, unity in our disparity? Is the Filipino still worth dying for, when he himself is so willing to turn his back on his brethren for selfish progress?

Do we deserve EDSA and the People Power Revolution?

If there’s anything we can get from the memory (or understanding of) the EDSA People Power Revolution, is that we are capable of great things, as a nation, as a people, and a united peaceful actuator of change. The challenge now is how we can effectively elicit the same accord and harmony, cooperation and conviction from the anarchy that is our socially and cultural disparate diversity, and sustain to reach a sizeable shift in our situation, as a nation and as an economy. Or are we only able to tap into this latent cohesion of the country when threatened with the loss of our most basic rights, free speech and justice?

Can we be more than mere survivors of a dictatorship? Scarred and beaten with our breath heavy with animosity and defiance. Or can we be catalysts of progress, a paradigm shift borne during peaceful times? Steadfast and directed, as committed and conceding to the cause as our forefathers did in the face of tanks and tear gas, of muzzle and militant might, of pacification and fascism?





Image above was created and is owned by the author.
"The Filipino is worth dying for." is loosely quoted from Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr.
Manus Populi - Lat., loosely translated means "the hand of the people"