The song, originally by the Sampaguita band, echoed hauntingly as I walked out of the movie theater. Unlike some of the reviews and feedbacks that I’ve read on socmed, I was not brought to tears but I did enjoy a hearty laugh. I came out of the cinema happy with a lot of questions running in my mind.
Let me lay it out there, the film will embarrass critics who made claims of historical revisionism and/or alteration. I did not find any alleged distortion neither was there even an attempt to explain what led to the 1986 EDSA Revolution. The film basically laid out the last 72 hours of the Marcos family in Malacanang in the eyes of Imee Marcos, the real maid in Malacanang, and the three manangs – Yaya Lucy, Yaya Santa, and Yaya Biday. It was all about what was happening and the exchanges inside the palace as events were unfolding outside the palace gates.
If there was any “distortion” of any sort that others may claim to have taken place in the film, it was humanizing the Marcoses. It made the members of the family human beings who have strengths and weaknesses… yes, weaknesses. In the film, they were neither pictured as pure evil, like how we were taught to think about them, and they were not painted as saints, like how others claim that the film attempts to do. In fact, the film does it to ALL its characters – from the Marcoses to the yayas to Cory Aquino. It flattened out that our history is not about just good and evil. It is not about getting blinded that one family is evil while the other one is godly. In the film, we are given peek into the the other side by the eyewitness account of the people who were there.
Like what I’ve said earlier, I had questions in my mind as the film credits rolled out. The questions were mostly based on the correlation of what was shared in the film and what I know off from school, what I read, and, also, my personal observation on the dynamics of politics in our country. Three things actually stood out from me in the film – the idea of EDSA being a peaceful revolution, Marcos holding on to power, and the roles played by Ramos, Enrile, and Honasan.
We cannot deny that the EDSA Revolution was peaceful but alongside this narrative also comes the suppression or the downplaying of the role played by Marcos Sr. in keeping it peaceful. An actual clip of an exchange between the former president and General Ver clearly showed that Marcos Sr. was adamant not to harm Filipinos and he did stay true to that promise despite the odds and threats that the family faced while still in the palace against Aquino supporters. While it is factual that we avoided bloodshed, this happened because the former President never gave the signal to use force against those who were on the streets. Remember that he still had control of the military back then and, had Marcos heeded the advice of General Ver, it could have been a bloody encounter. The order not to attack kept things peaceful in EDSA.
Whilst we focused on the peaceful tension along EDSA, we have taken the narrative on the violence that happened in the palace on a more subdued tone. Let us not hide the fact that Aquino supporters violently attacked the palace. We have video footages on how they ransacked and destroyed properties in the palace. I could just imagine how palace guards and employees feared for their lives inside the complex. This was the violent side of EDSA. This was the other side of the narrative that has been downplayed. The mob was angry and “parang gustong manakit”. I loved how the scene where Yaya Santa threw a stone to break a window. Whether it be a symbolism or it actually happened, it was a good depiction that things could have been MORE violent if Marcos Sr. decided to use force against a violent mob.
Then there is that narrative of Marcos Sr. trying to hold on to power. In the film, the ailing Marcos was seen as a frail human being trying to question his leadership and defend the trust that he gave people around him. He was not pictured as a person trying to hold on to power but was, in fact, hoping for the whole thing blow over. Was he holding on to power like how we were programmed to think? Obviously, FM had the means to hold on to power. He could have given the military to put up a defense but he never did. This had me thinking and look into the narrative more.
Looking through available data, the snap election had COMELEC, having tabulated 100% of precinct votes, declared Marcos as the winner of the election with a majority win whilst the NAMFREL, having tabulated only 69.03% of precinct votes, declared Aquino as a winner by a slim margin. Why was the tally of the COMELEC disregarded when the sole and rightful authority to tabulate official votes was with them and not NAMFREL. Furthermore, NAMFREL never completed the counting and the slim lead of Aquino could have easily been overturned if the counting was completed. Should there have been any discrepancy or reason to doubt the election result, the courts should have been asked to intervene.
Now, if we follow the presumption that the Marcoses “fled” the Philippines, a claim that is now in question, then the incumbent Vice President should have been sworn in, not Aquino. This raises a question on the legitimacy of Corazon Aquino’s presidency. If we are to look into this closely, a bigger question is who was out to grab power?
Another question that lingered in me was the real role and intent of Enrile, Ramos, and Honasan during the EDSA revolution. There were only a few mentions of Enrile and Ramos in the film. Enrile was mentioned in reference to calls that was made where he was offered amnesty and when he was asked to lay down arms. Ramos was only mentioned once and that was in reference to him wanting to be in position. Honasan was not mentioned. I am making an assumption that the young soldier who helped the Marcoses flee the palace was Honasan. The three played pivotal roles in 1986 but there has been developments in the mainstream narrative if you have been following it.
As most of you would have observed, Enrile and Honasan, despite their involvement in EDSA 1986, are now standing alongside the Marcoses. Enrile has been vocal that their movement in Camp Aguinaldo was not about the Marcoses nor the Aquinos. Enrile has been vocal about this matter. In fact, Cory Aquino was in Cebu when Enrile and Ramos took their ground. Honasan, on the other hand, was silent on the matter but with him running under the senate slate of the Uniteam speaks volumes about his relationship with the Marcoses.
But Ramos seems to be of a different position as the two. His silence about Martial Law and the Marcoses raises a lot of question. The reference of him, in the movie, being hungry for power and his eventual rise to the Presidency in 1992 made me think again about him. I am not a huge fan of Ramos and I question his role during Martial Law and post-EDSA. I seriously think that, if there was one person who can shed light to military or police abuses during Martial Law, it was him. But I don’t remember him coming out clean on this. While Enrile shares his story, Ramos’ will be buried with him with divine justice staking claim over his silence and wrongdoings, if there’s any.
To sum it up, the movie is Imee Marcos’ fulfilling a promise to his late dad that their story will be heard. It is wrong to say that it is revisionism. It is their story that for decades were kept in the shadows waiting for the time to be eventually heard. I guess their time has come and we should be open to hearing it out because history is like a stick that, when you pick up, you get both ends. It is not right that you only get to see one end of the stick. This time, it was the other end of the stick that we are seeing and hearing – the end, that for decades, we were suppressed to see and hear.
The film does not glamorize the Marcoses. FM was ailing and was questioning himself. Imelda was a weak and supportive partner to FM. Imee was feisty and strong. BBM was emotional and trying to be strong. Irene was soft while Little Aimee was oblivious with what was happening. The film humanized the Marcos and the characters that revolved around them. It made us see and ask beyond what was taught to us. It made me ask who they are and who were the people that revolved around them.
Sino nga ba sila?
The red and green caravans of the BBM-Sara tandem are giving me the goosebumps. The sheer volume of warm bodies, not cars nor mannequins nor tela, are indications of the strong support to the two among the masses, which happens to be the biggest chunk of voters in the coming election. No amount of propaganda and narratives are holding up to the strength of the Marcos candidacy. Let me put it out there… a return of a Marcos in Malacanang will be a PERIOD to the long-standing and worn-out drama of yellow-turned-pink politics.
The yellow narrative painted the Marcoses as evil while those on yellow/pink side were painted as saviors who have come in our time of need. For decades, we have been fed with this narrative that the Marcoses were thieves, corrupt, murderers, and plunderers. The “saviors” or “heroes” had the power for more than 3 decades to get a final Supreme Court verdict and finally nail the coffin on the Marcos’ attempt to return to power. They had every opportunity and chance to get a final and executory legal verdict from a THOUSAND cases filed against the Marcoses and finally put a period that the Marcoses are indeed evil. Unfortunately, there is none.
If there’s any truth to all this narrative LEGALLY, why are we using a measly court decision on the failure to file an ITR for BBM’s disqualification case? A final SC verdict on plunder or corruption would have sealed the fate of BBM as such convictions merit perpetual disqualification from holding public office. The fact remains that, in the past 33 years, those who have pushing for these narratives have failed to win a case, with finality, against the Marcoses and, without a final and executory SC verdict, the Marcoses are deemed innocent until proven guilty. Again, 3 decades and 1000 cases filed has yielded zero final convictions against the Marcoses.
In all these cases filed, the burden of proof is with the accuser, that is the past administrations of the Philippine government. The PCGG had 3 decades to, at the very least, get one final and executory conviction against the Marcoses. We had a 2 Aquinos and a Ramos, a total of 18 years of power, to get these convictions through with their powerhouse legal teams and their “claims” of solid evidences. As of this writing, we still have not reached a final verdict despite all these advantages. What does that tell us? Either, our legal representation to these courts are not as good as we deem they are or we don’t have THE evidences to get a final conviction.
So it is safe to say then that for the past 33 years, we have been a “Marites” when it comes to the Marcoses. All these narratives, in the absence of a final conviction, are mere hearsay or, in Filipino, “tsismis”. What was written in the books are not substantiated by legal facts but are mere stories passed on repeatedly. We have been blindsided by personalities made into saints to keep the narrative alive. We were fed with only the narratives that they would want us to believe in to keep the yellow ribbon alive. They had to keep repeating the story for their own gain, not for the country’s. They thought that by continuously repeating the narrative, it will be deemed and accepted as true.
I remember how my physician-wife always reminded me that you don’t get sick when you get wet from the rain. It is an old wive’s tale that you would get sick if you get wet in the rain so you need to take a bath as soon as you get home. But this story has been passed on for centuries and has been taken as “fact” by many despite having no scientific or clinical basis, sabi kasi ng mga matatanda. And yet, many of us still believe it because it has been repeatedly passed on that we start believing and accepting it as true, even when the science tells us, otherwise.
I guess, the narratives against the Marcoses are like old wive’s tale. They keep repeating the narrative with the hope that it will stick as a fact, despite the absence of a legal basis. They never saw that the advent of easy access to information would break the narrative. Some would claim that it can be fake news BUT we cannot deny the fact that all accusations against the Marcoses have not been proven in court with finality. Again, that is a fact.
History is said to be written by the victors. Let me add to this – the only way that we can ensure that history is not erased is through natural laws of science and final legal decisions. These are straightforward facts that we can not deny nor refute. Yes, we cannot deny the holocaust happened during World War 2 because it was proven in court of law against the Nazis. The documents and evidences presented against its perpetrators found them guilty beyond reasonable doubt. That is how you keep history intact, with legal facts. In a nutshell, it was 33 years of nothing but plain Marcos narratives that are finally wearing off.
Honestly, the EDSA People Power has no significant effect on me other than it is an extra day out of the office. I was not like this before. It just grew in me through the years of seeing how we never really progressed after being “liberated” from the hands of a dictator. I realized… “binoladas at binoboladas lang tayo”.
I was an 8 year old boy who was living in Baguio when EDSA 1 happened. I vaguely remember details of the event but I remember that there were no rejoicing or excitement at home. “Cory Aquino” was the buzz word and the “Laban” sign became part of our jeers and cheers when playing. Years after, we experienced the blackouts when we transferred to Manila which we enjoyed, as teenagers, because it gave us reasons to stay up late at night. I watched coup attempts unveil before our eyes. I could say that the administration after the overthrow of the Marcoses was one shaky admin.
Decades after our supposed “liberation”, things did not improve for me and many other Filipinos. Our country struggled with the same issues of supposed corruption and power abuses by the same people who overthrew a leader with the same accusations. Only this time, mas dumami sila. I personally felt the disappointment that I became apolitical and hopeless that I have learned to accept na hanggang ganun na lang tayo. I have sat countless hours in traffic and had my own share of cramped space in the MRT. Nothing changed except for the idea that we have freedom.
I guess the idea of “we got our freedom back” was the biggest post-EDSA blinders that was given to us Filipinos. It was the failsafe that was used on us to keep us from asking and prodding more on what happened to us after EDSA. It was milked dry to keep us blind on the changes that we wanted to happen by making us focus on our “restored freedoms” which later on proved to be detrimental to the way we think. We were made to feast on these liberties to mask the reality that they were abusing the powers that they grabbed. This is the very same psychological play that made most Filipinos think that everything is our right, even if it means losing our discipline as citizens.
Furthermore, these power grabbers used economic jargons to give us an impression that everything is sound. We were told that we got this % increase in our economy or we got this upgrade in our credit standing with this institution. But the bigger question is how did these “improvements” help the majority of Filipinos. Where did it bring us? Would you say that our lives improve when Filipino commuters hold on to their dear lives as they push and get shoved just to get on a bus to and from their workplace? Can we claim that Filipino living conditions are better when we cannot even afford to give a decent home to calamity survivors despite the influx of financial assistance from other countries?
These people speak now of historical revisionism but the bigger question – is it revisionism or had the blinders fallen off for most Filipinos? A more appropriate question is that have they written a one-sided story to justify their power grab and to keep it within their fold? Is history being revised or is it now being corrected? They say that only time can really tell one’s place in history. And with the return of the Marcoses, and even Erap, to power, it begs an answer to the question if previous administrations were using history as a propaganda to keep power within them. Is history vindicating the victims from before? It is also interesting that we are getting on the why’s to the questions back then from individual who were once part of this “people power”. These responses give us a balance to what was being “fed” to us.
The party associated to this “EDSA spirit” have already admitted that a lot of the promises from the supposed uprising remain unfulfilled. Imagine that we had to endure that post-EDSA kind of leadership for decades before majority of the Filipinos, including me, finally put our foot down by electing a leader that is far from that mold. We got tired of the words and diplomacy and chose actions over words. We finally got tired of the BS that they have been feeding us and finally decided to take action on what Filipinos really deserve. Of course, we want that to continue.
It took a bloodless revolution to topple down a Marcos leadership and it took only one strong and uncouth leader to show Filipinos that EDSA One was indeed an EDSA NONE.
It was interesting that February ended quietly contrary to how it started – with a lot of noise. It was not a surprise as to how much noise were created on social media against the present administration to the point that PDiggy was even reported as a “threat to democracy”. What is more interesting is that all the noise created falls in line on the month when we commemorate EDSA 1 – the pinnacle of the supposed yellow revolution.
Just like previous celebrations, this year’s highlight was the getting together of the supposed prime movers of the bloodless revolt along the country’s most popular highway. Only this year, Fidel V. Ramos was the only man on the pedestal. There were a few celebrities and politicians who were there to share their supposed “passion for freedom”. However, it can be noticed that the attendees and the crowds are thinning out year after year, and this year was no different.
San na nga ba napunta ang sinasabing “diwa ng EDSA”?
Let me be straightforward, I stopped believing in EDSA. All the EDSA mindset ingrained in me were shattered a couple of years after EDSA Dos. I was there on the very same street taking my stand on my generation’s own version of people power. They overthrew a Marcos while we overthrew an Erap. They installed a Cory while we installed a Gloria. In the end, it was all for nothing. Decades later, we are still in the same shit where we started. My only consolation was that our girl was far better than theirs.
The breakdown of my EDSA mindset started after watching ERAP rise up again in the political scene – to a position where our national leaders deem he should be. Its funny how “people” rose up against him to be later pardoned and be elected into a government position again, considering that he was accused and proven guilty of plunder. His case made me think and realize that he was either a sacrificial pawn who played his part because of his popularity or he was legitimately ousted because he was a President who was not popular among the “in crowd”. In both cases, members of this political dynasty dusted the road for his ouster. Too bad that I fell for their prey.
EDSA 1986 was a beacon of hope for many Filipinos. The bloodless revolution was our pride and was a symbol of a promise for a better nation. It was so inspirational that it moved my generation to have our own. It embodied the Filipinos desire for change.
I asked my dad his thoughts on EDSA One having lived through the Martial Law years and the bloodless revolution as a military man. He stated his position very clearly – he realized through the years that it was wrong. Initially, he believed the movement in EDSA was the answer to the Filipino’s woes during those times if the initial plan was followed. But the breakdown with the plan after the shift in power made our country decay.
32 years after EDSA, I think most Filipinos have realized that it has failed us. The hopes that we pinned on that single event have shifted power from one to a few, who abused the Filipino’s vunerability. These people are no different to the man that they abhor and claimed that they stood up against. The only difference is that these people hid behind the guise of our percieved civil liberties and the idea that we are free. They blinded us while they milked our country.
One good thing about my EDSA realization is that I asked and read more about the supposed “dark days of the country”, not only on what they want me to believe in, but also the other side of the coin. Interestingly, I am finding a lot of information being ommited in our history. Philippine history have long been revised by victors through ommission and I challenge those who are reading this to read up and ask your parents and the elders about life back then. It is not an attempt to revise history. It is getting a balance of information to give us a clear picture of what happened. This will give you an opportunity to find your truth.
I seriously think that the diminishing numbers of those commemorating EDSA is because more people are realizing how it failed us. It never gave us the change that we wanted for our country. I believe that the failure of EDSA 1986, 30 years after, gave rise to the clamor for real change under this administration. And honestly, this administration has been the most responsive to the clamor.
EDSA is no more than just a highway for me and having Trillanes standing on that EDSA monument just made it worse – a highway with a piece of shit on the side.
On the way home, I happened to pass by the People Power Monument along the corner of White Plains Avenue and EDSA. The image of “Inang Bayan”, with hands raised up in the air, was striking against the backdrop of the summer afternoon skies. I was so mesmerized by the imagery that I grabbed my phone and tried to grab a clear picture of it.
Incidentally, we are only a couple of days away from the commemoration of the event that freed us from the hands of a dictator some 31 years ago… as what we have been told. Where has this famous “People Power” revolution led the Filipinos and the country, three decades after?
The claim-to-fame of the bloodless revolution was it overthrew the dictatorial regime of the late Ferdinand Marcos. It overthrew an oppressive government whose alleged crime involves corruption, human rights violations, mysterious disappearances, and brutal deaths. Crimes that Filipinos hope and pray would stop after the Marcoses flew to the US to escape the fiery emotions of Filipinos that was oozing along EDSA.
The EDSA revolution kicked out the dictator “daw”.
Although true to their claim of having successfully kicked out the former President and his family, it is interesting to note that the same family is back in the order of things in Philippine politics. What is REALLY funny is the tremendous noise created by EDSA 1 personalities and their “believers” on the controversial burial of the former President and yet they only managed to simply ring the bell as the Marcos family slowly got back to power. The culmination, so far, is having Marcos Jr. finishing 2nd in the Vice Presidential race and now has a pending election case in court. I have no words for these EDSA personalities. They feared the dead more than the living Marcoses. Truth be told, EDSA 1 definitely kicked out the Marcoses TEMPORARILY.
The EDSA revolution brought back power to the Filipino “daw”.
School text books and prominent EDSA personalities brandish that the said revolution gave power back to the people. We have been overwhelmed by pride for this grand declaration for years. Imagine having ordinary people numbering to thousands, and possibly millions, in one gathering demanding for change. But was power really transferred to us or was power transferred from a few to a broader few? Come to think of it, all national and local elections from then on have been mired by alleged electoral fraud. Why? Because some people wanted to retain the power with them. We have been blinded that the EDSA revolution gave power back to us but reality is, it never did. It just gave birth to a new and broader batch of power-yielding families who simply infatuated us by blasting us with the propaganda that the EDSA People Power was for the people by the people. Reality… they asked Filipinos to go to the streets to transfer political and economic power from them to a bigger them.
The EDSA Revolution was the road to justice “daw”.
People Power was a sigh of relief for the thousands of Martial Law victims. It was a turnaround for them to finally start their search for justice. But 30 years after, some of these victims still has to receive their compensation after winning a landmark case. In fact, it was only a few months back that PDuts have given the nod to start the release of these compensations to its rightful owners. Yes… justice still has to close its loop for these victims. Well how can we expect justice to be served fast when even after two Aquino Administrations, we are still in the dark on the mastermind behind the death of their patriarch, Ninoy Aquino.
The EDSA revolution gave way to reforms “daw”.
The hope when common people occupied EDSA was a hope for reforms. Reforms that would trickle down to the majority of Filipinos. But I guess most of these reforms remained as a hope, some 31 years later. Case in point, while the Cory Aquino administration brandished its success on Agrarian Reform, the vast land in Tarlac owned by them remained in their stead. And when the Supreme Court upheld its ruling to distribute it to the farmers, the PNoy Administration retaliated by having the SC Chief Justice Corona impeached from office. To this day, we have yet to see the actual implementation of the reform by the family of the former Philippine President who signed it into law.
Some may say that there were a lot of reforms in place and it is true. But far from these reforms are those that needs to be implemented and felt by the common Filipino. The Agrarian Reform is a just example of the many hypocrisies of some of the ruling parties in Philippine government. Reforms that would make the lives of common Filipinos better are being held in bay in favor of the ruling class’ whims to hold on to power.
The EDSA revolution gave Filipinos their freedom “daw”.
We were made to believe that the People Power Revolution gave back to the Filipinos our freedom. Sadly, the freedom that we claim to have regained is the same freedom that we make as an excuse to justify our wrongdoings. Most Filipinos have a skewed understanding of freedom. It does not surprise me that media personalities have gone far with their lies in their field and when apprehended will hide under the guise of “press freedom”. But give them a dose of their own medicine and they will be the first to raise heaven and hell to claim that their rights have been trampled on. It is only in the Philippines where our rights and freedoms get to change depending on one’s convenience.
I hate to say it but the EDSA Revolution managed to blind a lot of Filipinos with hypocrisy. As a GRAB car driver placed it neatly, EDSA was simply used for our mind conditioning. It infatuated us enough that we lived in helm that it was a pride that we all stood up against a dictator and that we regained our freedom. What it doesn’t show is the fact that it paved the way for a larger scale of oppression for common Filipinos. The “diwa ng EDSA” bounded us to the whims and tantrums of the ruling class. That is probably the reason why it has lost its flame because there was none to begin with. The generation who got drunk from its popularity eventually realized that there was really not much difference from the old to the new except that you have more people sharing the power. They realized that it was starting to be an embarrassment when the same problems propped up and it was better not to talk about it. It was the same feeling that I felt after participating in EDSA Dos and then see the rise of Erap back in power. The efforts of heeding the call to go to the streets led to simply nothing.
The People Power Revolution is ONLY for the books to make Filipinos feel our “alleged” freedom. But truth been told, we have never been free from the oppression of the government. It simply shifted power from a dictator to a larger group called Oligarchs.
Yes, there were changes that happened but I wonder how life would have been without Kris Aquino screeching on TV.
adobongpinoy 