Let us look back to this shining moment of our people when we courageously fought shoulder to shoulder forming a human barricade in the streets of EDSA and in different metropolis around the Philippines in protest, armed with our love for our country, the mission to protect our democracy, prayers, rosaries, songs, flowers, food…reaching out even to the soldiers in tanks that could have fired at and killed the protestors in those four days.
ENOUGH! “Sobra na! Tama na!” was the battlecry of people of all ages from all walks of life, fighting on the front lines, fighting for the freedom and democracy we now enjoy — the democracy that is again under threat with the desperate attempt of the Marcos Family and their cohorts to return to power with the candidacy of the son of the dictator, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos (BBM).
BBM attempted to move closer to Malacañang in 2016 Elections by running for vice president. He was, however, defeated by Leni Robredo despite his electoral protests, recounts and three rulings of the Supreme Court that Robredo won the election, that there was no proof that she cheated as alleged.
Hence the Marcos family hired the services of Cambridge Analytica to “rebrand” Bongbong Marcos and the Marcos family. Six years after, armed with troll farms and fake news online brigade that are trying to revise history to make the Marcoses the heroes, and the valiant truth and freedom warriors the villains, the son of the dictator is now running for President against Leni Robredo, among four other candidates.
The battlefield has been more complex than it was a generation ago because of the toxic deep division among our people, brought about by the indoctrination and brainwashing of many people who now say Ferdinand Marcos was the best President the Philippines had ever had, that Martial Law was the best thing that ever happened to the Philippines, that the Aquinos caused the downfall of the Philippine economy, that the free and independent mainstream news media are the enemies, the ‘salot’ of the country, that those who are against Marcos are communists and communist supporters, that Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos did not abuse their power and did not amass ill-gotten wealth, that no one among the Marcoses are convicted, that Bongbong Marcos should win the presidency, and is ordained by God to be the next president to “make the Philippines great again”. ALL LIES AND DISINFORMATION.
The “rebranding” of the Marcos also took from the playbook of dictators to “divide and conquer, even boasting the unholy alliance of Marcos with past and present presidents like Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, the political butterfly Juan Poince Enrile, and many more who were either convicted of graft, plunder, and corruption.
The integrity of the May 9, 2022 is now at stake, with the outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sara Duterte, who is running as Vice President of Bongbong Marcos, as part of what they call the “Unity Team. Duterte has been appointing people in the Supreme Court and the Commission on Elections, and have likewise allegedly been orchestrating a massive disinformation campaign and using the same arsenal as Marcis has been using.
How can we again be united to protect our democracy and the Constitution, to collectively fight for what is true and what is just?
Lest we forget, let us look back to the time when the world looked up to us for our victorious fight to topple the dictator, and remind ourselves that we have within us the same power right here, right now, as we soldier on in the battle of this generation.
Here is how the Official Gazette of the Philippines chronicled the People Power Revolution of 1986 in the year 2016:
On February 20, 1986, Marcos proclaimed himself victor of the snap elections, and was set to retain the presidency; on the same day, Corazon C. Aquino led a people’s victory rally at Luneta and called for civil disobedience, which included the boycotting of known Marcos-crony institutions. Two million people took up the cause with her at that rally; stocks of singled-out companies fell the very next day. Marcos responded with the threat of reinstating Martial Law, should Cory Aquino lead a nationwide strike; he, too, orchestrated a mass demonstration of support—reports emerged that twelve million pesos had been earmarked to pay supporters to attend a proclamation rally in his honor at Luneta.
On February 22, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, who was once at the center of the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, discovered a plot to implicate him and officers involved in the Reform the Armed Forces Movement in a coup. Faced with only two options—dispersing or regrouping—Enrile chose the latter as the “more honorable” option. He announced his defection from Marcos, alongside Chief of Staff Fabian Ver’s deemed successor, Lieutenant General Fidel V. Ramos, from within Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame.
The Catholic Church announced their support of the two, and enjoined people via radio broadcast to provide aid and, for all purposes, a human cordon to guard them against anticipated counter-offensives. Soon enough, the base and its surroundings were teeming with citizens. Marcos denounced Enrile and Ramos, but speedily changed the venue of his inauguration to Malacañang Palace; there he would be sworn in as president yet again, but this time surrounded by nothing more than courtiers tied to his pursestrings. Back in EDSA, that first night: Close to a hundred thousand held vigil—a number that would only swell.
On February 23, Enrile and Ramos met along EDSA, surrounded and protected by a growing number of supporters eager for what already seemed then as a fomenting revolution. But Marcos and his remaining officials had mobilized forces still under his command: Columns of armored tanks formed barricades along EDSA, with heavily armed battalions as escort.
Thus began the banded Filipinos’ show of force — through song and slogans; through earnest extensions of friendship to hard-faced soldiers; through the flashing of the Laban sign — symbol of Cory Aquino’s campaign and of the movement that carried her; through prayers and linked arms and rosaries, human barricades and flowers.
On February 25, Corazon C. Aquino was sworn in as the elected President, effectively reinstating democracy following decades of the totalitarian rule of the Marcoses. Democracy was swept in through the swell of a unified crowd—and it was this tide of the populace that would fully drive out the dictator from his Palace, stealing out of the country that wanted it no longer and that which could finally act on it.
Revolutions often do not erupt and resolve in a matter of days—but the events of February 1986 forever altered the course of our nation’s history; it showcased to the world the singular strength of the Filipino people.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
