Last Monday, February 24, I had an unusual conversation with my colleagues in one of the schools I am teaching in. It is about the historic event which in our history books call the EDSA Revolution or EDSA People Power. It happened on February 22 to 25, 1986 wherein Filipinos marched into the EDSA and demanded the end of a brutal dictatorship headed by then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Somewhere between the exchange, I said that it is a myth. A colleague retorted, "Bakit mo nasabing myth?"
"Hindi naman nangyari 'yung pagbabago, e. They (the ruling class) just used the people. Hanggang ngayon, ganyan pa rin. Si Enrile, feeling savior. Sabi niya noon, gawa-gawa yung ambush sa kanya."
"Totoo 'yung ambush sa kanya," the same colleague said.
"Totoong gawa-gawa, kaya nga siya hindi napuruhan, e." I added that a video footage exists in which he stated in 1986 his mock ambush days before the declaration of Martial Law just to justify the latter.
"Nangyari talaga iyon," my colleague insisted.
I never answered back. We have classes to conduct around this time.
As far as our history is concerned, the EDSA historic event that I know really happened. But it failed. The ones who failed are those who believe they created the EDSA Revolution.
They are all dreaming awake. That is why it is a myth.
No matter what the yellow president has said recently about bringing EDSA "to the people", he must be very afraid of not holding the commemorative celebration in the same national highway. By the way, this year is its 28th anniversary.
I would like to clarify that the people, the nameless ones who marched on the streets, never failed. They are still continuing in the struggle for a genuine spirit of dissent and "civil disobedience".
