{"id":59182,"date":"2022-02-24T11:00:37","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T03:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/?p=59182"},"modified":"2022-04-22T10:28:21","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T02:28:21","slug":"why-filipinos-should-have-a-deeper-sense-of-appreciation-for-edsa-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/2022\/02\/24\/why-filipinos-should-have-a-deeper-sense-of-appreciation-for-edsa-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Filipinos Should Have A Deeper Sense of Appreciation for EDSA Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated on Feb 24, 2022.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When the year 1986 came,\u00a0the world set its eyes on the Philippines. It was a shifting moment, a changed that\u00a0proclaimed the power of people. Without blood but pure nationalism to be one as a country. Little did we know, it was just a start\u00a0of another chapter of\u00a0long\u00a0misery. That’s why this\u00a0celebration of people’s power is a must.\u00a0It is a reminder that every Filipino —when they\u00a0live\u00a0together as one— can defeat tyranny\u00a0and most of all, the unjust government.<\/p>\n

\n

To give you the spirit and sense of background,\u00a0let’s take\u00a0a look\u00a0as to why the EDSA people power revolution\u00a0shouldn’t be forgotten but always be remembered.\u00a0The month of February for Filipinos is a crucial and historic moment of the year 1986.<\/p>\n

On February 7,<\/strong> The Snap Election\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With\u00a0decades of resentment culminated\u00a0toward the regime of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, many\u00a0Filipinos\u00a0were already at the edge of losing their patience. And the last\u00a0strand\u00a0was\u00a0pulled when former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the Manila International Airport.\u00a0In a last ditch effort to win back the public’s trust, the ex-President decided to hold a\u00a0snap election. However,\u00a0things didn’t turn in his favor.\u00a0Corazon Aquino, the widow of the late\u00a0senator\u00a0challenged Marcos for the\u00a0most powerful position in the country. According to the official tally of votes, Cory\u00a0was the winner\u00a0of the snap election, but the Commission of Election (COMELEC) declared\u00a0Marcos as the\u00a0victor. Two weeks after, many officials of the government joined the opposition, as\u00a0the cheating\u00a0was evident. This was the start of\u00a0the\u00a0journey\u00a0towards freedom and democracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Citizens continue to march to EDSA as individuals or as organized groups with their own safety ropes, provisions, and banners. Photo by Nestor Barido<\/strong>, People Power: The Philippine Revolution of 1986\/IMAGE from Official Gazette Philippines<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

On\u00a0February 20, 1986, <\/strong>The\u00a0Self-proclaimed President<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcos still insisted he won the\u00a0election and proclaimed himself as the winner to retain his position. While on the same day, Corazon C. Aquino’s camp led a people\u2019s victory rally at the Luneta Park and called for civil disobedience. In which, plenty of\u00a0boycotting happened\u00a0for\u00a0Marcos-crony institutions. Two million people\u00a0joined the event\u00a0the very next day.\u00a0\u00a0Threatened with the escalating situation, Marcos\u00a0menaced the public\u00a0that he\u00a0will\u00a0reinstate Martial Law if\u00a0the strikes continue. He even orchestrated the mass demonstration of support, only to find out this was paid supporters that cost twelve million pesos.<\/p>\n

On\u00a0February 22, Boycott Movement\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

After several attempts to\u00a0pacify the Filipino people and convinced them that\u00a0the despot was the winner, it turned out that many Filipinos actually ignited the feeling of resignment and disgust towards the Marcos regime. Not only because of his tyranny, but also for his sense of\u00a0desperation to cling to his position through manipulating the result of the elections. Sickened by the\u00a0current\u00a0administration’s appalling actions, the Defense\u00a0Minister\u00a0Juan Ponce Enrile\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<\/strong>Armed Forces Vice-Chief of Staff command\u00a0Fidel V. Ramos\u00a0<\/strong>withdrew from their positions and\u00a0demanded Marcos to resign.\u00a0\u00a0The two leading former Marcos figures joined the ongoing protest\u00a0against the government.<\/p>\n

On\u00a0February 23, The\u00a0Vigil\u00a0and\u00a0The Protest<\/b><\/p>\n

At the peak of the ongoing\u00a0crisis, many Filipinos were determined to oust the regime of\u00a0the dictator. Enrile and Ramos met along EDSA, they were surrounded and protected by a growing number of supporters eager for what already seemed then as a fomenting revolution. However, Marcos and his remaining loyal officials had mobilized forces\u00a0under his command. Columns of armored tanks formed barricades along EDSA,\u00a0heavily armed\u00a0militant\u00a0escorted the area. But the twist\u00a0of the event happened— when faith\u00a0defeated fear.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Catholic Church represented by Archbishop\u00a0Jaime Cardinal Sin<\/strong>\u00a0along with the priests and nuns called for the support of all Filipinos who believed in democracy. Through Radio Veritas,\u00a0the call\u00a0for\u00a0unity\u00a0came,\u00a0and many Filipinos\u00a0attended\u00a0the peaceful protest. The rosary\u00a0won over the gun\u00a0and violence,\u00a0\u00a0and\u00a0suddenly the winds of fate changed.\u00a0Militants became one with the oppressed\u00a0Filipino people.<\/p>\n

On February 25,\u00a0<\/b>New Beginnings\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

On February 25,<\/b>\u00a0Corazon C. Aquino was sworn in as the elected President of the Republic of the Philippines, effectively reinstating democracy following decades of the totalitarian rule of the Marcoses. The power\u00a0was returned\u00a0to its rightful owner— the people.\u00a0At last, freedom from tyranny and oppression was restored.\u00a0Democracy in its glory was\u00a0witnessed by the world.<\/p>\n

February 1986 will be remembered in history as a\u00a0reminder of the strength and unity of the Filipinos that overthrew Marcos and ended his terrifying regime that lasted for decades.<\/p>\n

\n

Sources:\u00a0Official Gazette,<\/a>\u00a0Philippine History. org<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Written by Cedie Salido <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we celebrate EDSA Revolution’s 35th anniversary, let’s recall this momentous even that forever changed the Philippines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[14509,14510,119],"class_list":["post-59182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature-story","tag-edsa-revolution","tag-people-power","tag-philippines"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/02\/image12.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59182"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64702,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59182\/revisions\/64702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}