It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Lamentations 3:27
When the newspapers have got nothing else to talk about, they cut loose on the young. The young are always news. If they are up to something, that’s news. If they aren’t, that’s news too. – Kenneth Rexroth
I was barely a year old when EDSA 1 happened. I only got acquainted with People power through history books and being taught about it in school as I was growing up. I was told my dad and aunts also participated (and slept) in the rally. I have seen countless documentaries, have read numerous accounts, even personal testimonies of people I know who were there. When I worked with the Advanced Filipino Abroad Program of Fulbright last 2007, like the other scholars, I got to study extensively what took place that 1986, and years before that during the Marcos Dictatorship. But to me, everything about EDSA People Power was something of an intellectual discourse —something I only study about but do not really know, at least by experience.
A few days ago, among millions who were also glued to their TV screens, I watched as former President Cory Aquino was laid to rest in Memorial Park beside Ninoy in a simple white tomb. I watched the thousands of people who lined up to see her one last time. I watched as her procession dragged on for hours and hours, traversing EDSA and Ayala Avenue, the sites of where she first led the protests against Marcos –surely, this was nothing I’ve ever seen. I heard a columnist say that the spirit of EDSA is alive. They said the turnout of people at her cortège was something that closely resembled EDSA 1. Cory’s own family said it was like being in their dad’s own funeral procession, and they didn’t think it would be outdone. The world was suddenly at a standstill for Cory.
Her funeral procession (and her death in general) represented many things to different people. To the generation that fought Marcos and marched with Cory that 1986, this was relieving a painful but triumphant memory. Yellow confettis and ribbons tied around poles and trees, the prominent L sign, singing Ang Bayan ko —it seemed like it was only yesterday. This was celebrating the woman in yellow who was the beacon of hope, the courageous woman who took upon her the burden of trying to unite the Filipinos and fighting evil with good. This was the woman who was hardly a political figure, who knew nothing about running a country, who, before she heeded the call, described herself a plain housewife. Yet this same woman, simple, unusually calm in the most frightening moments, and undaunted by the darkness that lay before her, became the voice of Philippine Democracy. She braved it all —dismantling 20 years of dictatorship that has taken the lives of hundreds, including her very own husband; the restive, abusive military at Marcos’ bidding; and maybe even the risk of death. And her troubles did not leave after she resumed office. This was the woman who faced 7 coup attempts and survived them all. Matapang si Cory, and she would not have anything else except freedom for her fellow Filipinos.
To my generation, her passing represents many things as well (at least, for me). I would like to comment on what Raul Pangalangan said about the Post-cory generation. “Perhaps to them Cory Aquino is just another name in the pantheon of heroes, but I hope Wednesday’s long funeral procession is one good history lesson that they would learn in their hearts.” Seeing this many people, how can we not question? “I hope the young will ask why, and I hope the elders will give worthy answers. I worry because I have seen past revolutions and struggles belittled by the generations born afterwards, reduced to empty ritual performed by perfunctory functionaries.”
Yes, we might not have lived through the 1980s (or we were still crawling then), but that is not to say, we have no lessons to carry with us, or no ‘pains’ we feel are worthy to fight for. The constant reminder of EDSA brings us to an understanding that not much has changed in the Philippines since the Marcos dictatorship —that is to say, democracy is still being threatened (again, by no less than the person occupying the highest position in the land) and the constitution prostituted (by her minions, uniformed cowards, and everyday criminals). There might have been only one enemy then (Marcos being the most prominent) but today, we are surrounded by hordes of political monsters who continue to abuse and disparage the hard-fought democracy. And while it has been said over and over again that our generation has become blind and deaf to the cries of the nation, I think we ought to be given the opportunity to rise to the occasion, just as the older generation did before. Her passing is a reminder to us that the fight for democracy does not end with anybody —we can still be brave for our country, and we still have the opportunity to fight for what she stood for.
These ideals (truth, freedom, justice, democracy and what not), however, are not fought in the same way during the Marcos regime. Times have changed.
Let’s face facts: our generation lives in a whole new era. This is the computer age. Gone are the days when people would rather march the streets to express their protests. And while I think I still romanticize that idea, I only see visions of youths marching with their cellphones and ipods in tow. So let us use this to our advantage. Let information be our tool to fight off abuses. Let us tweet, if that’s what we need to express our sentiments. Let’s blog away (responsibly) if we need to reach out to the misinformed public. Let us open the airwaves, penetrate media and the blogosphere, and tell people what we can do to fight for democracy.
We are 9 months away from the May 2010 Presidential election. I think if my generation would like to prove itself, it must do so especially in the coming elections. I like what ABS-CBN is doing with the Boto mo ipatrol mo campaign. They are utilizing the youth and enabling them to be active, to know what their rights are, to guard their votes.
Efforts to abort election or to amend the Constitution are at play. Someone is desperate to cling to power beyond her constitutional term. If there was something Cory reminds me about, it’s that she fought hard for clean Elections. I would like to relive her memory by ensuring, if at all, that an honest, clean Elections take place next year. And there are many ways to do that as a youth. (More on that my next blog.)
The generations before me do not necessarily have to be disappointed —there is still so much we can do and prove.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Lamentations 3:27
When the newspapers have got nothing else to talk about, they cut loose on the young. The young are always news. If they are up to something, that’s news. If they aren’t, that’s news too. – Kenneth Rexroth
I was barely a year old when EDSA 1 happened. I only got acquainted with People power through history books and being taught about it in school as I was growing up. I was told my dad and aunts also participated (and slept) in the rally. I have seen countless documentaries, have read numerous accounts, even personal testimonies of people I know who were there. When I worked with the Advanced Filipino Abroad Program of Fulbright last 2007, like the other scholars, I got to study extensively what took place that 1986, and years before that during the Marcos Dictatorship. But to me, everything about EDSA People Power was something of an intellectual discourse —something I only study about but do not really know, at least by experience.
A few days ago, among millions who were also glued to their TV screens, I watched as former President Cory Aquino was laid to rest in Memorial Park beside Ninoy in a simple white tomb. I watched the thousands of people who lined up to see her one last time. I watched as her procession dragged on for hours and hours, traversing EDSA and Ayala Avenue, the sites of where she first led the protests against Marcos –surely, this was nothing I’ve ever seen. I heard a columnist say that the spirit of EDSA is alive. They said the turnout of people at her cortège was something that closely resembled EDSA 1. Cory’s own family said it was like being in their dad’s own funeral procession, and they didn’t think it would be outdone. The world was suddenly at a standstill for Cory.
Her funeral procession (and her death in general) represented many things to different people. To the generation that fought Marcos and marched with Cory that 1986, this was relieving a painful but triumphant memory. Yellow confettis and ribbons tied around poles and trees, the prominent L sign, singing Ang Bayan ko —it seemed like it was only yesterday. This was celebrating the woman in yellow who was the beacon of hope, the courageous woman who took upon her the burden of trying to unite the Filipinos and fighting evil with good. This was the woman who was hardly a political figure, who knew nothing about running a country, who, before she heeded the call, described herself a plain housewife. Yet this same woman, simple, unusually calm in the most frightening moments, and undaunted by the darkness that lay before her, became the voice of Philippine Democracy. She braved it all —dismantling 20 years of dictatorship that has taken the lives of hundreds, including her very own husband; the restive, abusive military at Marcos’ bidding; and maybe even the risk of death. And her troubles did not leave after she resumed office. This was the woman who faced 7 coup attempts and survived them all. Matapang si Cory, and she would not have anything else except freedom for her fellow Filipinos.
To my generation, her passing represents many things as well (at least, for me). I would like to comment on what Raul Pangalangan said about the Post-cory generation. “Perhaps to them Cory Aquino is just another name in the pantheon of heroes, but I hope Wednesday’s long funeral procession is one good history lesson that they would learn in their hearts.” Seeing this many people, how can we not question? “I hope the young will ask why, and I hope the elders will give worthy answers. I worry because I have seen past revolutions and struggles belittled by the generations born afterwards, reduced to empty ritual performed by perfunctory functionaries.”
Yes, we might not have lived through the 1980s (or we were still crawling then), but that is not to say, we have no lessons to carry with us, or no ‘pains’ we feel are worthy to fight for. The constant reminder of EDSA brings us to an understanding that not much has changed in the Philippines since the Marcos dictatorship —that is to say, democracy is still being threatened (again, by no less than the person occupying the highest position in the land) and the constitution prostituted (by her minions, uniformed cowards, and everyday criminals). There might have been only one enemy then (Marcos being the most prominent) but today, we are surrounded by hordes of political monsters who continue to abuse and disparage the hard-fought democracy. And while it has been said over and over again that our generation has become blind and deaf to the cries of the nation, I think we ought to be given the opportunity to rise to the occasion, just as the older generation did before. Her passing is a reminder to us that the fight for democracy does not end with anybody —we can still be brave for our country, and we still have the opportunity to fight for what she stood for.
These ideals (truth, freedom, justice, democracy and what not), however, are not fought in the same way during the Marcos regime. Times have changed.
Let’s face facts: our generation lives in a whole new era. This is the computer age. Gone are the days when people would rather march the streets to express their protests. And while I think I still romanticize that idea, I only see visions of youths marching with their cellphones and ipods in tow. So let us use this to our advantage. Let information be our tool to fight off abuses. Let us tweet, if that’s what we need to express our sentiments. Let’s blog away (responsibly) if we need to reach out to the misinformed public. Let us open the airwaves, penetrate media and the blogosphere, and tell people what we can do to fight for democracy.
We are 9 months away from the May 2010 Presidential election. I think if my generation would like to prove itself, it must do so especially in the coming elections. I like what ABS-CBN is doing with the Boto mo ipatrol mo campaign. They are utilizing the youth and enabling them to be active, to know what their rights are, to guard their votes.
Efforts to abort election or to amend the Constitution are at play. Someone is desperate to cling to power beyond her constitutional term. If there was something Cory reminds me about, it’s that she fought hard for clean Elections. I would like to relive her memory by ensuring, if at all, that an honest, clean Elections take place next year. And there are many ways to do that as a youth. (More on that in my next blog.)
The generations before me do not necessarily have to be disappointed —there is still so much we can do and prove.
Let's hear it