Leap-frogging thru The Ninoy-Cory Phenomenon

When Jose Maria Sison, the founding chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines broke away from the PKP after debating on revolutionaty strategy, the concept of "leap-frogging" came into the realm of public discourse. What this leap frogging idea means is creating the necessary conditions for a revolutionary situation. It is mixing numerous actions together to create a "broth" that is, a situation of adverse consequences. Actions are undertaken to achieve a particular result or condition instead of allowing events to naturally ascend the higher stage.

This has been the widely accepted idea during the Marcos dictatorship. And this, my friends, is what characterized the length and breadth of the EDSA revolution. However, current historical interpretation of EDSA seems to just center on the twin legacies of Senator Ninoy Aquino and his wife, Cory, and consciously eradicated, albeit, isolated the big contributions of revolutionary groups, such as BAYAN, CPP-NPA-NDF, MNLF, MILF and the RAM-SFP-YOU.

It seems that people behind this are deliberately creating a somewhat "cultist" interpretation of History, by ascribing the success of the EDSA revolution only to the efforts of LABAN-UNIDO and center its success on the sacrifices of Ninoy. That there is a deliberate attribution only to those in the legal opposition seemed contrary to the events that shaped this revolution.

This revolution is part of the ongoing process which started way back in 1898 when the First Sons of the Morning united together and formed the Katipunan. The Katipunan legacy is what shaped the consciousness of Ninoy and his fellow Laban-UNIDO.

The part that Ninoy played cannot be over-ly emphasized. Everyone knows that his death emboldened 2 million people to go to the streets and rally. Yet, how about those in the provinces? How about those events in the rural areas where the deaths of people's organizers' sparked mini-revolts? And how about those thousands who died fighting with their lives that former menace to democracy?

Neither August 21, 1971 nor that of August 21, 1983 were crucial milestones in viewing this EDSA revolution. Those were the milestones accepted by politicians.

Right now, there is a conscious attempt to replay the same emotions and the same perspective we had back then in the period 1983-1986. That period was never the length and breadth of this revolution, no. That period started way, way, way back. Events just tapped the underlying current of dissent within the Filipino soul, which just burst asunder when the right conditions were created.

Those millions who trooped to EDSA in 1986 were there not as a disorganized lot, no. People's organizations played a big part in the entire revolt. What is now being devoured as staple public idea is that only the LABAN-UNIDO led this massive outpouring of anger. This is not the correct interpretation of what had transpired. EDSA was a conscious collaboration of disparate forces joined together in a fight against a strongman.

Ninoy's legacy is that he sacrificed his life so that middle forces are made fully aware of their bondage. Those middle forces were key to the EDSA formula. With their participation, the paradigm of struggle that is EDSA was completed.

We all know that we cannot really re-create the conditions that led to EDSA. We exist in a totally different political environment where we don't have the formal structures of a dictatorship, only a pseudo-dictatorship. A totally different strategy is needed to defeat the current Arroyo regime. If we are to say that we need another Ninoy, that is a wrongful interpretation. We need a new breed of Ninoys and Corys, of Jomas and Saturs, of Nur Misuaris and of Dado Valerosos, who will sacrifice their lives so that others may truly live decent lives. Theirs are incomplete legacies of revolts, not revolutions. The true revolution is still upon us. The True Filipino Revolution is still being nursed from the loins of the Filipino masses, waiting for the right time to show itself once again, like a Bernardo Carpio. And this time, there is no leap frogging.