After 25 years: My memories of the EDSA 1 Revolution

I was there.

After twenty five years, my memory of EDSA has been quite hazy, but not in the same selective amnesia that certain generals have been experiencing concerning anomalous transactions that have transpired less than ten years ago. I describe my recollection of the EDSA 1 revolution as a personal anthology of bits and pieces of places, faces and events from the 22^nd to the 25^th of that fateful month in our country’s history.

I remember being recalled by the school authorities in De La Salle University (DLSU) from our house to house campaign in the 5^th District of Manila for civil disobedience and work stoppage on a specific date later during the month. They urged us to heed the call of then Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin to go to EDSA and protect the failed coup plotters from the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) led by former Colonel Gringo Honasan and Dept. of National Defense (DND) Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. Then AFP General Fidel Ramos had also decided to join the said group in opposing President Ferdinand Marcos.

I was hesitant to go to EDSA because I didn’t want to help these people who were for years have been associated with the Marcos regime. Now that the dictator’s grasp on power had substantially declined, they were jumping ship. Worse, they had attempted to take power for themselves.

But when I saw the religious and lay people who had arrived there before us, I thought of their safety from the military personnel who were sent by the government to crush the rebellion. There was strength in numbers, and the military I thought would not dare fire on the human barricade lest they wanted an all out civil war. My presence in EDSA was a personal risk I had to take for the country.

I was there.

Scared and a little confused as to how I got in front of the massive military vehicles often described by media men as tanks when it actually looked like armored amphibious personnel carriers. Still, it looked menacing enough that when one shouted that no one among us shall leave until the military withdrew, I feared it was my final ending. The idea of being crushed under a tank wasn’t a pleasing thought at all!

Thankfully, the Marines with their war vehicles left that late afternoon, surely overwhelmed with the ever increasing number of people pouring into EDSA. “War is over!” one Marine soldier shouted as he walked near me towards the direction of Fort Bonifacio. They did return to barracks that night only to return the next day and to be again met with an ever increasing sea of human barricade. People were later tear gassed only to come back with more supporters.

I was there.

At the start, La Sallites converged near Gate Four (4) of Camp Aguinaldo, mixed in with a cross section of Philippine socio-economic classes. EDSA had that effect on people. There was generally no discrimination as people saw other Filipinos as they were, as Filipinos.

Those were dangerous times. Had Marcos agreed to AFP Chief General Fabian Ver’s recommendation to send some fighter planes and bomb the insurgents as well as the civilians, hundreds if not thousands would have lost their lives at EDSA including mine.

Sensing danger, my parents particularly my father refused to allow me to return to EDSA. Being a parent now myself, I knew they were just concerned for my safety, but I was obstinate. We got into a heated argument and my father even threatened to disown me telling me not to come back if I left but I was determined to go back to EDSA. My mother who had a calming effect on us assured me not to worry about my father and his declarations, to just be careful and to come back home.

As the days quickly passed, the dangerous atmosphere turned into a festive one as more and more from the military defected with civilians filling the former Highway 54 as far as the eye can see from the middle of Camps Crame and Aguinaldo. A festive atmosphere, indeed. I can even remember one night walking all the way up to the Cubao area and from an elevated area of EDSA seeing for the first time naked women dancing above the tables of their drinking customers at a local bar called Alibangbang. The country was in a state of deep crisis but it was business as usual for these establishments.

By the evening of the 25^th , it was all over. Marcos and his family had been carted away by his former allies in the United States government on exile to Hawaii. The DLSU contingent had been further moved along Ortigas Ave. near the corner area with N. Domingo St. That is where we heard of Marcos flight to the US. A number of us decided to go that very night to Malacanang Palace, the seat of Marcos’ rule for twenty years. We hitched from one vehicle to another, from one place to another until we reached San Miguel in Manila. I had to climb a steel grilled wall to enter the Palace premises. The sight we saw was both a source of joy and disappointment. The liberation of Malacanang Palace was a jubilant sight to see. Unfortunately, many people who stormed the place were in a looting mood, itching to get anything as a souvenir I suppose from the Marcos spoils. You see people bringing out paintings, bed mattresses, machine gun ammunitions magazine, and tons of paper documents that could have further shed light on many concerns. It took some concerned people to make at least some of the looters realize that these things were not for the taking but rather belonged to the Filipino people.

Which brings me to the question, after 25 years from EDSA 1, what has happened?

Many people describe the EDSA event as a miraculous defining moment for the Filipino people. Miraculous in the sense that it could have easily turned into a bloody and ugly conflict but it did not. Defining because it showed the whole world what the nation could achieve with unity of purpose. However, have we really utilized for the common good the gains of EDSA? Or have the future generations forgotten them altogether succumbing to the false promises of progress and development under a reestablished system of oligarchic rule and plutocracy in government. Every Filipino has to answer the abovementioned question himself deep in his heart as we are all party to EDSA’s glorious fulfillment or utmost failure.

If there were two things that I learned from EDSA it is that one, constant vigilance of the people is truly the sacrifice we have to accept for our freedom. We have to learn from history otherwise, the following generations of Filipinos shall be almost bound to repeat each and every mistake of our forefathers. Secondly, the genuine and unwavering work of nation-building ultimately comes from a deep sense of spirituality. Our faith comes into fullness in life through concrete action. Love of God is expressed in love of country and of the poor. Only with true concern for our fellowmen’s welfare shall the aspirations made in EDSA find lasting fruition.

As I remember EDSA today, I constantly remind myself of these learnings. By remembering them well and living my life accordingly, I believe I honor God and those who have sacrificed much so we can enjoy the life and freedoms we Filipinos have now.