Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Hijacking EDSA and Marcos' misintepretation of History

Edsa was supposed to be a people's revolt. Yet, accounts that were written and read about this event which happened twenty seven years ago were those told my people close to Marcos and those who reportedly sacrificed their lives for the sake of this revolt.

Where are the voices of those people who really worked hard every single day against the dictatorship? Where are those people who went to the hills, armed only with the determination to secure democracy and a brighter future for their kids? Where are those organizers who called the thosands who went there and created history? Most of these people who struggled for years are either dead or are so weak to share their stories. These are the people whom we owe our liberty today. These are the people who sacrificed their future just so others may live a better and more democratic life.

Yes, the liberties we so enjoy today are being threatened by the very same people who hijacked Edsa for their own. The cybercrime law and the unpassage of the FOI are signs of an oligarchy rapidly growing in power. The new set of oligarchs are more ruthless than the first ones and are determined to use the powers of the State to get what they want.

Fact is, the very ills of Philippine society which the former president ferdinand marcos tried to solve thru martial law remains a festering lot. Marcos had the right idea, but he implemented that idea in the wrong way. He thought that order can only be established thru a dictatorial monarchy. Marcos had a wrong interpretation of history.

Had marcos used martial law to establish a collective styled government, he could have been the Philippines' mao tsetung or our version of Fidel Castro.

Marcos had the right intentions yet misread the future by his warped interpretation of History. He was right when he abolished the old oligarchs and busted them all out. He was correct when he allowed a new set pof elites, those who ascended to power due to their intelligent, vision and strong wills to take over the vacuum left by the old oligarchs.

Marcos wanted nothing more than destroy the oligarchs, yet, in doing so, he unwittingly allowed himself and those around him to create their own power blocks. In truth, marcos decision to declare martial law was as revolutionary as any other. Marcos proved that the oligarchs can be defeated. And he surely did.

What he forgot was that, when he launched his own revolution, marcos failed to control his own excesses. Marcos was defeated by his thirst for more power. Had he continued managing the economy and the government like how he managed his own politcial career, the outcome may have been different.

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