#OurEdsa: 30 Years of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines

The 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution
Photo credits www.kapitankokak.blogspot.com 

I remember EDSA very well since it happened the day before my 9th birthday. As Tora-Toras flew over our house in Makati, I remember feeling uneasy and fearful of what would happen next. Admittedly a daddy's girl, I began looking for my father. My mother said he just left for EDSA with my uncle, heeding the call of Cardinal Sin to gather there and present a show of force to clamor for peace and stop the impending violence of soldiers sent by Malacañang, armed with guns and live ammunition. What is more, we heard that big military tanks are also heading their way towards EDSA. But then it happened. The People Power Revolution disarmed the government. Peace prevailed. Edsa was born. I was so happy to see my daddy home. I told him he should have brought me with him and carried me on his shoulders. He said it was not safe that's why he didn't tell me. The following day, my birthday, a newspaper headline read, "Marcos flees." The dictatorship has ended.

Even if the years that followed proved to be both promising and frustrating, I continue to revel in the fact that I come from a people who knew what it was to live through a dictatorship and come out of it advocating peace, in spite of the wounds it has inflicted on so many people, and on so many families. When I passed the UPCAT and formed part of the group called, "Mga Iskolar ng Bayan," I became more sensitive about the values that go with patriotism. Yes, I joined rallies and was happy doing it. I was happy going to Mendiola to support a cause I believe was worth defending. I felt indebted to all our fellow Filipinos who sacrificed their lives for us to enjoy the freedom we have now. And I felt obliged to defend this very same freedom when a seeming dictatorship threatens to wrest it from us again.

With my UP Cebu mentee, Korina

I am a volunteer mentor to a 2nd year Political Science major in UP Cebu, Korina. I want her to know the values of fortitude and loyalty which EDSA has imbibed in me. The fortitude to defend the truth and the loyalty to uphold it. Along with this, I must add the courage to rectify our mistakes and begin again. I advised Korina to take her studies seriously, and while doing so, never to neglect going out of herself to be of service to others --- all the time.

With the UP education I continue to cherish, and with the UP education my mentee continues to have, I wish that somehow, in some way, the idealism I still have will ignite in her a willing response to be that Iskolar ng Bayan our country can truly be proud of. In spite of everything, I still believe that the Filipino is truly worth dying for.

After 1986, I am happy to celebrate my birthday side by side with EDSA's. It has its own perks, you know, like spending a good, long weekend this year.  

Note: This is my official entry to Philippine Daily Inquirer's #OurEdsa Essay + Selfie Contest, 30 Years of EDSA.