A bloodless revolution against a dictatorial regime—that was EDSA 1—and virtually no one questioned people power. After EDSA 2 and the unrecognized EDSA 3, some Filipinos started to change their opinions. An article in Manila Times even reported that Cory Aquino apologized to Erap Estrada for having ousted him in EDSA 2. The article quoted her for saying “Lahat tayo nagkakamali, patawarin mo na lang ako (We all make mistakes, please forgive me).” Like Mrs. Aquino, should we also think that EDSA 2 was a mistake?
Admittedly, my experience of EDSA 2 was far from the ideal. It is sort of humiliating to think that I approached this historical milestone with such immaturity. My mother wanted to participate in EDSA 2, I wanted to go too, for I was sure that people power was the magical wand that will rid our country of all our problems. However, I felt lazy, so I said “bukas nalang, matagal pa yan (Let’s go tomorrow. That’s going to take long), I’m sure.” Later that day, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as the new Philippine president. Regret filled me as I remembered TV Patrol segments featuring the funny political songs played in EDSA 2. Back then, I did not want to join a revolution, I wanted to attend a concert.
Years passed, and now I have grown to understand the complexities of EDSA 2. Yet my immature sentiment is revelatory of something that needs to be reflected upon. My unrealistic hope in EDSA 2 is not far from reality. There are certain people who say that EDSA 2 was a failure because things haven’t changed. We kicked out a corrupt official only to install an equally decrepit one. I will not contest the ineptitudes of the Arroyo and Estrada regime. I will also admit that little has changed after EDSA 2. But unlike Mrs. Aquino, I will not apologize to that convicted plunderer.
It is easy to say EDSA 2 failed, if the expectations are like of a child who thinks that people power is a magical wand. This is a foolish and an unfair expectation. People power is not a panacea, but neither is it fundamentally wrong. If pushed to the margins by tyrannical control, if the system robs the democratic people of power, then we have the right to reclaim it. Why should we regret overthrowing a corrupt official like Estrada? Why should we regret that we did not sit idly by as the Estrada cronies hijacked the impeachment process? Just because we are faced with Arroyo’s ills, does not mean that we should have tolerated the ills of the Estrada regime. We should not regret EDSA 2, for choosing inaction would have been a greater disaster.
The mistake is not EDSA 2, but not having learned enough from EDSA 2. It was supposed to be a revolution, a wake up call, not a mere happy parade. But after people power, our interest in our democracy slumped into the eventual stupor and that caused the “failures of EDSA 2.” Today, political participation is still largely motivated by free canned goods, free shirts, sex-bomb dancers, and Juday. It is not enough to have a new president; we must also strive to create a new political culture. People power cured the side effect of having an abusive president, but our nation continues to be plagued with the cancer of political immaturity.
Combating corruption, sustaining social vigilance and developing our nation’s political maturity are not easy tasks. We must all carve our own paths toward these goals. In the end, actions of each committed individual can aggregate, and together we will be able to change our country. People power shouldn’t be our first option, but we should not be afraid to go to the streets, if the system fails to represent the people. People power is a start, not the end of our political consciousness. Social vigilance should not be a momentary fervor, but a sustained responsibility of every citizen.
Jasmine Cruz is a junior Creative Writing major. She is the Ateneo Debate Society’s Director of Issue and Policy Analysis.
