The real tragedy of the 1986 People Power Revolution, the 32nd anniversary of which we marked last Sunday, is the fact that nothing has changed in the lives of common Filipinos.
There also has been much distortion of our history.
We all know that it was the late Jaime Cardinal Sin who called people to Edsa so they can protect the breakaway group of Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos and Col. Gringo Honasan from possible retaliation from the forces of AFP Chief of Staff Fabian Ver.
We also know that as a result, Enrile, Ramos and Honasan went on to have Corazon Aquino sworn in as president at Club Filipino, with Doy Laurel as Vice President.
I asked Enrile what he, Ramos and Honasan why they did that when they were already in power. He told me that the main objective of the breakaway group was not to hold on to power. It was a tactical move against the possibility that Ver, having already formed a junta, would take power in the event Marcos died.
Enrile and Ramos already had a military junta, and they decided to pass on the power to somebody representing the opposition. In that case, it was Cory Aquino—even though she was never at Edsa.
Enrile said it was a gamble on their part, because they did not know whether what they did would in fact mean the ouster and exile of Marcos.
The rest is now history. During the Aquino presidency, she was hounded by nine coup attempts because the expected reforms did not come about.
I asked Enrile if he knew for sure that the people, belonging mostly from the middle class, would gather at Edsa to protect them. He said no.
I doubt whether the People Power Revolution could really be called that, because it occurred only in Metro Manila.
What I was told was that it was more of the move of the US government to get the Marcoses out of Malacañang. Thus, Marcos and his family were taken not to Paoay in Ilocos Norte but to Hawaii.
When people started massing at Edsa upon the call of Cardinal Sin, Ver sought the approval of Marcos to bomb Camp Crame. Marcos objected because it would mean killing Filipinos.
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If the issue of Rappler reporter Pia Ranada has become as big as it is now, even being cited as an example of suppression of press freedom, people from Malacañang only have themselves to blame.
Rappler is still a member of the Malacañang Press Corps and thus is still allowed to attend press briefings. The order of the Securities and Exchange Commission to cancel Rappler’s certificate of registration is not yet final and executory, because there is a motion filed before the Court of Appeals.
But President Duterte said he had had enough of Rappler’s peddling of fake news, and that Ranada should be banned from the Palace complex.
It only got worse when the Presidential Security Group said Ranada should be thankful they did not hit her after she had insulted them. Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo even said there was nothing wrong with what the PSG said.
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President Duterte should not dismiss the protests of those who object to the administration’s plan of amending the Constitution for a federal form of government. The protests were held last Sunday; Cardinal Luis Tagle led the rally against divorce and extrajudicial killings.
Protest movements have a way of getting bigger. The problem is that we Filipinos do not have a leader like the late Cardinal Sin. Cardinal Tagle is a very soft leader.
This is another tragedy for the nation. We cannot rely on noisy legislators from the opposition. But who knows? Crises bring out leaders in men and women.
I don’t know how far these rallies would go. Among the voices are those of the relatives of those killed in the so-called war on drugs.
It may appear at the moment that only the students are doing their share —rallying, walking out of their classrooms. But soon, sectoral groups will be protesting.
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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which is now on top of efforts to prevent the island paradise of Boracay from being a cesspool, does not need seven senators to conduct an ocular of the place. The senators plan to go to Boracay on Friday.
What the DENR and the Departments of Tourism and the Interior and Local Government need to do is suspend the entry of tourists for at least three months so the government can do what needs to be done.
Such a suspension would enable the government to enact facilities in compliance to the Clean Water Act and to demolish establishments that violate laws. How can the government do this when there are tourists around?
The government should also look at other tourist destinations like Bohol, Palawan, Mindoro and even Siargao.
The sooner this is done, the better.
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My primo, Carlos Agatep, who is chairman and chief executive officer of Grupo Agatep, sent me a book called Winning the Anvils.
While Grupo Agatep is in public relations, it is also an advertising agency. The book is a guide for professionals in the PR trade.
Anvils is like the Oscars in PR. Charlie’s group has won no less than 137 Anvils—more than enough credentials for him to write from experience.
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I got a big surprise when Wilson Lee Flores, a columnist of another newspaper, sent me a box of tikoy last week. Flores is the chairman of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. media and public information committee.
I don’t know Wilson personally but I thank him nonetheless.
