My mind goes into a frenzy of imagery every time I think about EDSA. Among the poignant ones are those pictures of overturned military tanks, the multitude of people that barricaded the streets, and lastly, the immaculate gesture of that peaceful nun who – at gunpoint, moved forth and slid a flower down the barrel of one military man’s rifle. People were ready to die that day. And then when I close my eyes, these images flash in a speed and then halts, to usher further images of triumph and glory. Then as if like a movie, the images are scored by a humming of a voice, then progressing into a Celtic chant - no lyrics, only a melody of resonating victory.
And that is how I picture the event 25 years ago when we taught the world what democracy is.
The EDSA People Power Revolution, historical and monumental.
I was born in 1986, the very year the revolution happened. I wasn’t there of course. So I cannot completely coerce myself to the nostalgia of it as much as the ones who had experienced it could. I can only bask under its spirit. But had I already lived in that time, I don’t know if I’d be one of those millions of people who fought and went out to reclaim democracy. I might have, I might have not. I honestly can’t give a direct and convicted yes or no for an answer. The images I have of EDSA and the things I know about it are all learned from school, read from books and see on TV. And just like history, they were all written from the victor’s point of view. Learning about EDSA now that I have been long outside the four corners of school is like a forked path. I learned a lot of things. That it has an ugly truth depending on one’s political perspective. The ones I learned from school and tri-media is in conflict with the conspiracies I have read through recently. Debating about it is unreasonable for all of us are subjective towards our own truth. And that we cling to it, unless life slams to us the falsity of it.
In a nutshell, here is what I’ve learned about EDSA amid all the theories. And this is the truth I choose to believe; that 25 years ago, we stood up against the status quo, we stood up for what we thought was right for our future. We showed the world what bravery and resilience was. We were ONE as a people.
Indeed, it was People Power.
Sadly, the essence of the EDSA revolution is slowly slipping loose from this generation’s grasps. And along with the waning memory of it are the dying hopes for nation building, economic growth and social equality – that which the very people of 1986 stood for. That which, is the very foundation of democracy.
Whether we open our eyes or turn a blind eye to it, this boat we call home is sinking. And before we could reach that pot of gold at the rainbow’s end, we might have already sunk deep into oblivion unless a rightful captain takes the wheel, unless we fix the damages on this battered ship and unless we as passengers help row the paddles and then sail another way. Until then, we can only wander at sea, lost and slowly sinking.
