Past revisited: Lessons from history
Alma Cruz-Miclat
This month of February marks the 36th anniversary of EDSA People Power Revolution, and come September meanwhile, the 50th anniversary of declaration of martial law by the Philippine dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. Our national hero Jose Rizal said: “To foretell the destiny of a nation, it is necessary to open a book that tells of her past.” So, let’s revisit our past!
The last few days of martial rule in the Philippines, February 22-25 of 1986, were days that shook the country, if not the world. It marked the end of the conjugal dictatorship of Marcos and his wife Imelda who hastily fled Malacañang Palace with their children Imee, Bong Bong and Irene, and their spouses to seek refuge in Hawaii.
The confluence of events – series of mass demonstrations which started in 1983 after Ninoy Aquino was assassinated up to the time Marcos tried to rob president-elect Corazon Aquino of the presidency which she won, the breaking away from the Marcos regime of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces of the Philippines Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos, and the support given to them by Jaime Cardinal Sin who rallied thousands and thousands of people to flock to Edsa in a peaceful revolt – heralded the downfall of Marcos and the return of democracy in the land.
Time Magazine Hong Kong Bureau chief from 1982-1986, Sandra Burton, covered the Philippines and wrote about the country's transition from dictatorship to democracy in her book, Impossible Dream: The Marcoses, the Aquinos, and the Unfinished Revolution (Warner Books, 1989). She wrote: “Whatever the proper terminology, during the four days in which a dictatorship collapsed and a fragile, new government was installed in its place, the warring social and political forces that had blocked peaceful change so often in the past came together in a brief, harmonious moment of mutual interest and inspiration.”
She further wrote: “It is that transcendent happening which deserves to be remembered. However, to understand how those individuals and factions managed to function, if only fleetingly, as a synchronous whole is to understand why they would come apart just as suddenly when the common forces of their rage had been sent into exile in Hawaii, and they were forced to confront the deeper roots of their discontent.”
The Time correspondent who passed away in 2004 after an illustrious career in journalism ominously wrote: “Filipinos had the greatest tolerance for chaos of any people I had ever met. In that sense, more than in others, they seemed suited to democracy. In Pres. Aquino they had a leader who truly believed that democracy could produce results in a poor and polarized country. But I would try to keep my expectations about its success on this volcanic soil within the bounds of realism.”
Burton evidently discerned the Filipino psyche for in the years that followed the glorious People Power, we would see our country going through the roller coaster of seeming victories and failures, apparent progress and regression, and many disasters and cataclysms, both natural and political. The country seems to go nowhere. We can’t seem to rise above the quagmire we often find ourselves in, and we tend to be masochist as a nation. Why do we elect bad leaders?
Now that we are again in another democratic exercise to elect the highest leader of the land, can we take stock of what we want for our country and our people once and for all? Don’t we like to look back and see where we’re coming from?
Guinness World Records has recorded the “Greatest Robbery of a Government” by the Marcoses: “The government of the Philippines announced on 23 Apr 1986 that it had succeeded in identifying $860.8 million (£569.5 million) salted away by the former President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos (1917–89) and his wife Imelda. The total national loss from November 1965 was believed to be $5–$10 billion.”
The mind-boggling loot has not been returned to the Filipino people but the cadaver of the dictator (who was even unceremoniously buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani), his partner in crime Imelda, and their children have all returned. And are even enjoying a political comeback, especially Marcos Junior who is now unbelievably running for president.
Reporting on the day before Marcos fled for Hawaii, Sandra Burton wrote in her book: “The pressure inside the palace was taking its toll on the sleepless First Family. After the press conference (Day 3, Feb. 24, 1986), Bong Bong Marcos pulled a gun on a presidential aide whom he accused of mishandling his father’s television appearance.”
This violent presidential bet who was also a convicted tax evader and who had not made his province proud while a governor may yet hold the highest office which his corrupt dictator father forcibly held for 21 years if our people will not learn from history.
It’s about time for the Filipinos to wake up once again, just like during those glorious days of February in 1986, and choose the best - incorruptible, hardworking, honest, compassionate, and experienced - to be our next president. We may yet see the hand of God, again just like before, in bringing to this country what we rightly deserve. For, just like what Sandra Burton wrote at the end of her book, “I hoped that I would find another people whose aspirations would touch me as much as the Filipinos’ had.”
Terrific, Alma! We must – like Leni and Kino – never lose our faith in our own people! We shall always overcome all dictatorship and corruption in our government!