EDSA: The Revolution of the People by the People and for the People

When then President Ferdinand Marcos called a snap presidential election, my sympathy went to the widow Cory Aquino of the slain senator Ninoy Aquino.  Twenty years in power and abuses by the military during Martial law was a bitter pill to swallow. 

I worked that time as a full time instructor at the Saint Joseph College Engineering Department.  The School President Bishop Vicente Ataviado was pro-Cory and so did the majority of the faculty members. 

I openly campaigned in the classroom and in the gatherings of different organizations against Marcos and favored Cory to become President because of pure sympathy to Ninoy and the strong clamor for change.

It was against the will of my mother, who at that time worked at the Ministry of Public Works and Highways.  Her sympathy was with Cory but she could not voice out her sentiments as government employees were forced to vote for Marcos.

Cory may not have the experience as compared to Marcos.  But Cory had the sincerity to serve and the fear of God.  Human rights abuses by the military, massive cronyism and corruption, and the downfall of the nation’s economy were the main issues against Marcos. 

When the results of the snap elections came out, Marcos was ahead by millions.  He was proclaimed by the Batasang Pambansa as the duly elected president.  Protests mushroomed all over the Philippines as reports of massive cheating abound everywhere, including Southern Leyte.  Marcos led Cory by only 6,000 votes in Southern Leyte.  But in the counting at the Batasang Pambansa, Marcos led by more than 16,000 votes in the province.  Campaign of civil disobedience came to Maasin by the Cory Aquino Movement national officials. 

We, Cory sympathizers were threatened to be arrested.  My mother was threatened to be transferred to a far district.  But the will of God prevailed as Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos led a military revolt against the embattled president.  Cory and Cardinal Sin called on the people to support the renegade soldiers and millions flocked to EDSA at Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo.

That time we had a ringhop and necklacing ceremonies for engineering students at the SJC Social Hall and my colleagues in the Cory Aquino movement called on me at the school where the activities were still ongoing.  We rejoiced and monitored the proceedings over radio.  There was no clear television signal that time.   

The rest is history.  People power prevailed.  In Maasin, we had a big celebration among Coryistas.  Democracy again prevailed.  Dictatorship was toppled.   It was a revolution of the people, a bloodless one, by the Filipino people.  The fruits of EDSA are for democracy for us the people of the Philippines.  

It was just the beginning.  The fight continues.  Tuloy ang Laban.  Tungo sa Matuwid na Daan.