EDSA 1: A shift from Dictatorship to a dictatorship of the Elite, masked as Liberal Demcracy

In his speech before students at the Rizal High school yesterday, President Benigno Aquino III said that EDSA uno allowed a shift from dictatorship to democracy. He said that EDSA 1 was different because unlike those bloody revolts over in the Middle East, God was standing by when Filipinos trooped to the streets and demanded change. The president said it was a miracle.


It was no miracle, though that the Marcoses found themselves in Hawaii, than in Paoay though. As revealed by former Justice secretary Raul Gonzales, the US disagreed with the request of the Marcoses to be flown to Paoay as exiles. Among the elites at that time, there was a request for Macoy to just live quietly in exile in his hometown, which, according to Gonzales, was turned down by the United States. 


It was also no miracle that yes, we found ourselves living in a liberal democracy than in a dictatorship. Noynoy said that it was not true that the Philippines could have turned into a "Singapore", referring to that small island state off the Pacific which turned from poor to the region's most prosperous, had Macoy continued his despotic rule. Aquino said the country was mired under billions of pesos worth of debt when Macoy left. The country, says Aquino, continues to pay off those fantabulous debts.


I don't know about this, but it seems that twenty five years hence, and we have more than US$ 7 trillion in debt, one hundred times over the billions during the Marcos regime.


Everyone know that Macoy was just a living corpse at that time, and it was just a matter of a couple of years more, and the dictator would have died silently in his sleep. Macoy was afflicted with lupus, a debilitating disease, and even without an EDSA revolt, the transition from a dictatorship to a democracy would have happened naturally.


Fact is, Macoy lifted Martial law four years prior to EDSA uno. When EDSA broke out, there was limited democratic space already. The age-ing regime allowed people to express themselves, albeit, in a limited manner. If democracy was not there, how come that Ninoy was able to return home?


Frankly, EDSA uno actually led to a transition---from a one-man rule to the dictatorship of the traditional elites, those elites whom Macoy tried to destroy in 1972. 


And frankly, these so-called "EDSA heroes" were active promoters of the New Society espoused by Marcos. The reason why they defected was simply to wrest power from Marcos, plain and simple. 


Admit it--former Marcos' defense secretary Juan Ponce-Enrile wanted nothing more than be declared Chief Executive. Enrile, together with other Marcos cronies, Eduardo Danding Cojuangco in particular, wanted nothing more than be declared Macoy's successor, which, during those times, was impossible since Macoy intended his wife, Meldy and his cousin, Ver, to rule the country after his death. 


Yes, the elections precipitated the revolt, but, like what former President Ramos said yesterday, the people's resentment has been festering since 1971, the year when students staged the First Quarter Storm. The gains of that historic event bore fruit only after two decades. 


1986 was just the right time for regime change, simply because Marcos was on the throes of death at that time. Had it been that Marcos was as strong as he was back then, the outcome would have been different.


The US saw this happening as early as 1983, when crowds began to swell during Ninoy's burial and the political opposition, composed of Marcos' enemies among the country's traditional elites, started flexing its muscles. The problem of succession began to be discussed silently among the elites, and this was never solved because the "strongman" was still very much recognized by the US as its puppet in the East. The US just realized the futility of still allowing the continued rule of Marcos simply because there was no clear succession policy and the one who Marcos intended to give his power to was a discredited political figure. 


Let us admit it--EDSA is like what Egypt underwent these past few days--from the dictatorship of Mubarak to a dictatorship of a few. We are being allowed to live in a neo-liberal environment to hide the fact that political power has just shifted---from the hands of Macoy and some of his cronies, to a dictatorship of the elite. 


We continually live in an elite-led democracy. We are allowed to exercise our rights provided that we allow the local caciques and their foreign backers, the right to rule us and gain tremendous profits from us. 


Truly, EDSA was never, really a revolution because a true one sees the former dispensation thrown away and replaced by a new set of pro-people adherents. EDSA was a peaceful transtion--from one-man rule to a rule of many. That explains why, before Marcos ended his career, several mediators were sent to Malacang purportedly to strike a deal with the discredited regime. 

Egyptian People's Revolution and the Possibility of this happening in RP

Egypt is being rocked by daily street protests which already saw 1,000 injured and scores dead. We are really not certain as to the actual number of casualties, since the government has already shut down Internet services since, about four days ago.


Sketchy reports say Egyptians have massed up to demand the ouster of Mubarak. Mubarak has been Egypt's undisputed leader for more than 30 years. At 82 years old, the former military commander refuses to heed the people's call for him to go on exile. He has sacked his government and has vowed to listen to the pleas of his people. Yet, the people do not want to listen to him. 


They want drastic changes in their society. They are demanding not just the sacking of Mubarak, but a change in the Constitution as well. Does this mean that Egyptians want a change in the policy especially regarding Israel?


Israel, according to CNN, is worried. Egypt has been a reliable ally since 1981. It is the only Arab nation that recognizes the state-hood of Israel. If the government falls, and it falls into the wrong hands, as perceived by the United States and its ally, Israel, then, this will totally change the ball game in the Middle East.


Mohamed Elbaradei is being touted as the main opposition leader. Another one, an Imam, is also being positioned to replace Mubarak. The reason why all of these things are getting out-of-hand is the fact that the US does not know what to do with it.


Obviously, the US still supports Mubarak. The US probably do not trust Elbaradei entirely. The global hegemon is looking for a middle road, a solution, that would appease the peoples of Egypt and at the same time, maintain the stability of the region. 


What worries security analysts right now is the high possibility that what happened in Tunisia and in Egypt are just "preliminaries" in a possible series of destabilizing events in the economically weakened region.


Food has become a political issue in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world. The shortage of it and the decreasing purchasing power of their currencies have lead many to political action. People's lives have been disrupted and they are all blaming their governments for mishandling the situation. 


Here in the Philippines, peoples are starting to get agitated over a series of oil price hikes, rise of criminality and reports of rampant and unabated graft and corruption. Filipinos are beginning to feel the heat caused of inflation. Masses of Filipinos are also beginning to feel that the government is quite helpless in solving their most pressing economic problems. 


Yesterday, I felt robbed when I saw diesel prices at 41 pesos per liter. This is too much. I went to the supermarket and found most, if not all, goods there at staggering prices. I went to the wet market and found myself with just two bags of seafood at 1,000 pesos. And these are the cheap ones.


A kilo of good, quality rice costs 50 pesos. If you have a family of six to feed, a kilo would only go a day's distance. Imagine how families right now are coping with this very serious economic crisis in their lives. It would just be a matter of time before things start getting real serious.


By the way, I don't know if you know but casualties in the flooding in Visayas and Mindanao have now reached an alarming 80 people dead. What is government doing? Nothing.