Not a real ‘People Power’

Batas Mauricio

HAVE you read, or at least heard, of the book “An Annotated Pictorial History of Clark Air Base: 1899-1986,” particularly its fourth edition? I haven’t, and I learned about it only now from media accounts appearing in some major newspapers in the Philippines, but it reinforces my belief that the 1986 Edsa uprising was not really a “people power” revolution, after all.

Media accounts on the book, written by the US 13th Air Force which was a military unit of the US Pacific Force, indicate that “people power” was a sham, and was in reality an American interventionist operation to remove a leader no longer usable for US interests, not really the peaceful Filipino revolution that many, including the Aquino Family, have presented it to be for the last 30 years.

When placed side by side with events that led former President Marcos to suddenly call for the so-called “snap” elections in 1985, and with other events which took place before then Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos and then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile supposedly broke-off with Marcos, the US book certainly conjures up images of the 1986 Edsa event as an American inspired or orchestrated rebellion, similar to its interventionist actions in other countries, solely to protect its interests.

It would appear to me, therefore, that the concept of a “Filipino people power” was a mere tactical strategy to make it appear that our people acted on their own to overthrow a corrupt and ruthless regime.

Using this kind of a strategy, with the willing assistance and active participation of people who either opposed Marcos or salivated to replace him in Malacanang or simply wanted to please the US, would somehow shield America from charges of intervention in the affairs of other countries, which had been thrown its way many times over before Edsa 1986.

But the handwriting on the wall about the American hand in the so-called “peaceful Filipino revolution” is quite plain and easy to see. The evidence proving this US hand, like the book written by the US 13th Air Force, had been hidden under tight guard for so long, for obvious reasons, but truth, indeed, has a way of coming out.

There is therefore nothing for Filipinos to celebrate, as far as I am concerned, about Edsa 1986, most especially in the light of these new revelations. The fact is that, Edsa 1986 would now appear to be an event that our countrymen could never be proud of, because the real credit for ousting Marcos should go to US.

What is more, Edsa 1986 was a mere subterfuge for a naked power grab by people who did not really have the interest and welfare of the Philippines in their hearts, and who were motivated with nothing but their desire for revenge, for recovering lost economic opportunities during Marcos’ 20-year rule, for themselves and their own cronies.

Thirty years after Edsa 1986, the country and its people remain mired in graft and corruption, criminality, chaos, illegal gambling, smuggling, drugs, and treason on the part of many officials who have no qualms about giving foreigners many of our territories for one consideration or another.

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So, okay, we can agree that it was a brutal and murderous dictatorship that the people saw during the 20-year reign of 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