"The spirit of EDSA is but a shadow of its glorious past."
Thirty-three years ago today, a series of events led to the EDSA Revolution and precipitated the ouster of the more than two decades of Marcos dictatorship. It was a glorious, peaceful, four-day revolution that showcased the best of the Filipino. It was an extravaganza of selflessness, patriotism, generosity, piety and love where people opted for non-violence over violent means to oust a dictatorship; to give out love instead of selfishness in order to effect change. This spirit has been immortalized as the spirit of EDSA.
The Marcos era was a very dark chapter of our history. Human rights violations were rampant, dissent was suppressed, the tyrant controlled government institutions, the military and security forces were used as instruments of State repression, and handful cronies who enabled the Marcoses to plunder state coffers controlled the economy. Despite the platitudes by State apologists, people were reeling in poverty and the economy was moribund. Except for the Communists and a handful of activists and dissidents, the largest portion of the populace was mostly compliant and cowed by the repressive regime. Surely, when Ferdinand Marcos was booted out of the Palace to spend his last days in exile in Hawaii, and President Cory Aquino took over the reins of government, it was a cause for celebration. The newfound democratic space was a breath of fresh air after decades of overbearing control by the dictatorial regime.
There was overwhelming euphoria and unbounded hope that finally the country could move forward and be forever free from the stranglehold of tyranny and abuse. But as time goes by, the spirit of EDSA, if there ever was one, has begun to wane and recede. Thirty-three years hence, the Marcoses are back in power as if they never left, as if they were not unceremoniously booted out of the country. The Marcos remains are now buried in the hallowed grounds of the Libingan ng mga Bayani and Marcos himself is being hailed by historical revisionists as a hero and that his days in power the halcyon days of Philippine nationhood. Human rights violations perpetrated under the guise of cleaning up the streets of drug trade are back with a vengeance. Democratic institutions, like the Supreme Court and Congress, are being intimidated into submission and compliance. Even the Catholic Church has not been spared.
The few who choose not to toe the line are pilloried, threatened, ousted from office and imprisoned. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senators Antonio Trillanes and Leila de Lima, the Commission on Human Rights and some in the media including Maria Ressa of Rappler, are the few dissenting voices that dared. In particular, De Lima, because, as then chairperson of the Human Rights, investigated extrajudicial killings allegedly carried out by the Davao Death Squad in Davao City under the then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, is now in detention due to highly questionable drug charges. An implacable critic of the President, she, as elected senator, filed a resolution to investigate extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration.
As I have written in the past two columns, the United Nations has chronicled how the rights of De Lima, as a detainee and accused, were and are being violated, particularly her rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the UN Working Group, the evidence and charges against Ms. De Lima were manufactured and fabricated upon the orders from the highest official of the land. Worse, according to the UN Working Group opinion following the President’s orders, the Secretary of Justice pronounced the guilt of Ms. De Lima in public even before any formal government investigation had been conducted against her. But despite strong evidence that the rights of De Lima for a fair trial have been violated, and the calls by local and international organizations for her release, the Duterte administration refuses to budge and release her from detention.
So many things are presently happening which reminds us back to the dark days of Marcos era with some expressing their fear that we are sliding, rightly or wrongly, inexorably toward a one-man rule. The suppression of dissent, the violation of human rights, the corruption of state institutions, the peddling of lies and half-truths, these are some of the more undesirable features of a dictatorial rule.
Arguably, the spirit of EDSA is but a shadow of its glorious past. In the midst of present-day realities, many have chosen to consign the memory of EDSA into the dustbin of history. But then again, De Lima and other hardy souls who refuse to accept misrule sitting down rekindle the spirit of EDSA. It is they who, by their actions, keep on reminding us that when everything seem to be lost, never to lose hope because we, as a people, are not only resilient but can redeem ourselves and choose to do what is right.
Six years ago, I wrote in this column that we should speak not so much of the unfulfilled promise of EDSA, as that is undisputed, but that we make as citizens a promise to the legacy of EDSA. I said then and I repeat that with urgency today: “We have to rebuild that sense of citizenship, of civic pride and participation, that we often see in extraordinary political times, but rarely in normal times. We should see as equally heroic the prosaic tasks of citizenship, in political, economic, social, environmental terms. Not only are we called to elect leaders of integrity and capability, but also to engage them with our interest and concerns; to call them to account (not in the adversarial, accusatory fashion we are too familiar with, if they haven’t broken the law or faith with the electorate, but in a constructive, forward-looking attitude) and work with them to solve the small challenges of democracy in our own barangay or municipality. And as we linked arms in EDSA, can we not link arms in ordinary times, to face tests like global warming, or social accountability, or inclusive development that lifts the poorest with the rest of us?”
In these times, the most urgent task is to link arms to defend human rights and democracy. And that includes linking arms with Leila de Lima, democracy and human rights heroine of the Duterte era.
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