Yesterday’s commemoration of the 29th Anniversary of the EDSA Revolution did not come by without the usual flare and fancy over social media. While a modest few came by the People Power Monument to celebrate the anniversary of the bloodless revolution, majority of the people that I saw on social media had been ranting about getting stuck along EDSA because of the congestion brought by the road closures in line with the celebration.
The usual fancy during the commemoration came in the guise of President Aquino gracing the celebration with his usual stunt of hitting on his critics and his futile pleading for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. Again, his pleadings are topped off with references to his parents to which he has successfully lived under their shadows for the past years of his Presidency. This continuous reference to his parents in almost every imaginable issue that he has gotten himself involved in make me squirm, if not puke. I think we have had enough of this references and it is about time that he makes it on his own. We do not need to be reminded of his parent’s heroics. We need a President to make a solid stand of his own.
In all honesty, I have a vague idea of the Bangsamoro Basic Law but the death of the Fallen 44 in Mamasapano had brought it in the limelight as the incident raised a lot of questions on the peace process for me. Furthermore, the incessant appeal of President Aquino have raised my curiosity even further as to why he seems to be in a hurry to have it passed into legislation especially now that there are a lot of questions raised on the sincerity of the MILF towards the peace process in the light of the Mamasapano incident.
Reading through the different articles about the BBL, I am getting the impression that the President seems to be eyeing it as his legacy should it be legislated according to his established timeline. The clash, which resulted to the death of 44 SAF men, is currently a huge stumbling block to be able to meet his deadline for the BBL to be passed into law. Well, we cannot blame the President as, just like me, I have asked the question as to what he has done for Filipinos. I do not remember any. I remember him as a President who has the zeal of attending the mundane things on his schedule rather than addressing what is IMPORTANT. I remember him as a finger pointing President, clearly an “it-wasn’t-me” kind of President. And let us not go through his “tuwid na daan” propaganda as it took him more than 4 years to realize that his good old friend Purisima had issues walking the same “tuwid na daan” with him.
Interestingly, some people ended up disappointed with the public turn-out to support the anniversary that even prominent People Power figures did not show up during the ceremonies. Well, we do need to consider that some of them are on arrest for various corruption related offenses. President Fidel Ramos, known to have attended the yearly celebration, was not present in this year’s commemoration. The lack of attendees can be attributed to the public’s dismay as to the handling of the investigation of the Mamasapano case. Or it could also mean that Filipinos nowadays no longer see the relevance of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
One thing is that really struck the heart and nerve of the people living in the metro is the horrendous traffic that the celebration created. Social media was abuzz about the traffic and how frustrated people were about the situation. It did not help that work in offices were not cancelled hence it further aggravated the situation. Although a re-routing plan was prepared and announced ahead of time, I seriously think that the roads used for the plan was in no capacity to accommodate the volume of traffic that would come from private and public vehicles that ply the route of Edsa. I told a friend of mine that the government intentionally did not declare it as a holiday and cordoned off Edsa to dissuade disgruntled Filipinos from organizing themselves and making their voices heard. The cordoning off of Edsa and the number of policemen assigned to the celebration was an indication that the government was trying to institute a form of “control” for fear of mass organization that would challenge the present administration.
So what is my point in all these?
In my opinion, the commemoration of the EDSA People Power is a becoming less relevant to Filipinos as we have not seen any substantial development in our country. We are no longer blinded by the fact that some key players during the bloodless revolution are the very same people that are accused in usurping the money of Filipinos for their own advantage. The event has now become a venue to voice out the political hits to detractors of the present government and to push for their own political agendas. It has become more of a platform of politics for the current administration rather than a celebration for the Filipino people.
And please… let us keep Kris Aquino out of the picture.
*** R A V E A N D R A N T ***
Rave: I have to agree with some politicians that questions need to be answered first before the merits of the Bangsamoro Basic Law are once again reviewed. I am not saying that we trash the BBL but I think that we need to get answers first. If the MILF is really sincere with the negotiation for peace then they would be more patient in searching for the truth with us.
Rant: I am not a showbiz kind of guy but the recent incident involving Xian Lim’s refusal to wear a shirt promoting Albay, because it might be in conflict with a clothing brand that he is promoting, is just one that is just plain b*ll. It is a souvenir shirt, where is the conflict? So I presume that what he wears is of the same brand ALL the time, even when he sleeps.
adobongpinoy 