Greatest legacy of 1986 Edsa

Batas Mauricio

SO, okay, we can agree that it was a brutal and murderous dictatorship that the people saw during the 20-year reign of Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, most of it under martial law. And, all right, we can agree that much of the country’s wealth was plundered and stolen during the years that Marcos was in power.

Now, the question is this: when Cory Aquino and Noynoy Aquino were the ones who assumed power in the Philippines from 1986 to 1992 and from 2010 to 2016, did Filipinos see an end to brutality and murder, as well as plunder and thievery in government?

Did we see any significant improvement in the lives of Filipinos? Did smuggling stop? Did graft and corruption among top government officials cease? Did criminality vanish? Did illegal drugs stop victimizing many citizens, whether young or old? Did we retain our sovereignty over the South China Sea? Did rebellion, both from the communists or from secessionists, slow down?

Whether we admit it or not, the greatest legacy of the two Aquino presidencies, which were anchored on the so-called 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, is the institutionalization of disobedience, both to God and to civil authorities. Edsa was in reality a disobedience to God, because of clear pronouncements in the Bible against fighting leaders and officials.

And it was also a disobedience to civil and other authorities because it allowed even a small segment of the Philippine population to grab power from duly-constituted authorities, all in the name of democracy and liberty which, it would be very clear now, meant democracy and liberty only for the rich and the powerful, but never for the poor and the marginalized.

Thirty years after Edsa, the Filipino nation remains impoverished. Big and profitable businesses are now in complete control of foreigners or Filipinos with foreign ancestries. Even the government is under the iron-like grip of foreigners, from the presidency down to the lowest official in the barangays nationwide.

From where I sit, if there would be a need to condemn Marcos and his families and so-called cronies  for their supposed excesses, the same degree of condemnation should also be heaped upon the Aquinos and their cohorts, in business and in politics.

It would be the height of hypocrisy if the Marcoses are condemned and the Aquinos are praised, when, it is clear, the Aquinos could be held responsible for more sufferings of the Filipino people. It is just unfortunate that anti-Marcos forces are more loud-mouthed now, apparently in an effort to drain out equally-biting criticisms coming from anti-Aquino groups.

Edsa indeed has brought more curses from God upon our country and our people, as the Bible itself warned: those who no longer listen to God and who no longer obey His commands will be visited with His curses. God ordained man to subject himself to the authorities, not to fight them, for in doing so, His curses will be rained upon him, and would cause his grave downfall.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com