No bringing back the Edsa ’86 spirit

EDITORIAL

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02/23/2010

Edsa’s 1986 spirit can hardly be resurrected and the reason is simple: Edsa 1986 was, simply stated, a revolt, not a revolution.

But the Edsa revolt could have become a stepping stone to becoming a full-scale revolution then. After all, the Marcos regime had collapsed, and along with it, all the institutions — including the Supreme Court (SC).

The revolt created a great opportunity for the newly installed leader to institute drastic and immediate changes.

Corazon Aquino had become the sole government and the sole law, exercising absolute dictatorial power.

She had it all: She abolished the 1973 Constitution, and along with it, the legislative branch of government. She demanded the resignation of all the SC justices and appointed her choices for the high court’s seat--all 15 of them. She even had handpicked 50 commissioners to draft a new Constitution, as she wished it written and even before that, she ushered in her Freedom Constitution which was never ratified by the people.

With all those golden opportunities handed Cory Aquino, who was exercising absolute government powers, she could have ushered in all those needed changes.

Instead, she brought back the pre-martial law elite “democracy” giving back to the same batch of politicians and elite businessmen the power they enjoyed before Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial rule. And vindictiveness reigned under the Cory Aquino regime. Where the country and the nation could have immediately moved forward, it instead lived in the past where the old pre-martial law was once again in power and position, and where the Cory regime refused to let go of the Marcos past, where the Marcoses and their allies were excoriated and demonized for decades.

And these same Cory regime’s elite groups, despite the Edsa revolt, hardly changed their ways in thinking only of themselves, instead of the marginalized Filipino people. Not to forget too, that the Edsa-ites who denounced corruption were themselves corrupt and abusing power and position.

In less than two years, it was already evident that the Edsa spirit could no longer be resurrected. Even the yearly festivities failed to attract people to join the yearly rites.

And where the so-called media watchdogs bared their fangs at the crimes committed by the Marcos regime, they kept quiet about the crimes being committed by the Aquino regime. They had in fact, become the robust partner of the Aquino government, even to the extent of generating that perception that it was criminal to criticize Cory and her government, even in the face of evidence of serious wrongdoing.

And the Yellows wanted to make sure that all their so-called Edsa heroes would succeed to the presidency, one after the other — until they realized that there were no more of their Edsa heroes, as Joseph Estrada, vice president, was a sure winner in the 1998 presidential polls.

And so the same elite plotted to bring down Estrada, prostituted the Edsa revolt while mounting a coup d’etat, attempting to disguise their unconstitutional act as bringing back “democracy” to bring about another set of elite Edsa leaders.

Where the military could remain apolitical, and where institutions — especially the Supreme Court — could have been strengthened through impartiality and independence, and where the Congress could have served as check and balance to the presidency, there was again, not a peaceful turnover of government power but a naked power grab and political instability caused by the power grab.

Worse, the Edsa-ites’ anointed turned out to be a political monster, destroying all the democratic institutions though their prostitution of what was envisioned as independence for these to be able to serve as check and balance in each department’s power.

With Edsa 1986 once again hitting its anniversary, the same elite groups, comprising the Yellow crowd, want to turn this event into a partisan political activity — to get the votes, with Cory’s heir, Noynoy Aquino, even stating that “people power” must again rise, but this time, through the ballot.

But it won’t bring the people back to the days of the Edsa revolt, because Edsa ’86 was all about unity and selflessness of Filipino people, not the divisiveness brought about by Edsa ll coup d’etat that remains a deep gaping wound in the Filipino soul.

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