Giving credit where it's due - to Mckoy

25 years ago, during the People Power Revolution, the key players of said revolution were one in fighting against corruption, abusive military officials and a dictator.

25 years later, dictator aside, were still fighting the same war. Corruption is pretty much around, and by the looks of things it ain't going anywhere. Meanwhile, military officials who are allegedly responsible for anomalies in their respective institutions have either kicked the bucket (committed suicide, killed in action or died of natural death) or fail to recognize their own signature. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The very people -- the Filipino people -- who teamed up in ousting President Ferdinand Marcos are now divided, each abandoning the sake of the common good in pursuit of their personal agendas. Politicians, though not all, are far too busy serving themselves that they can't be bothered to serve the public. The rich are so concerned with idea of self-preservation that they have forgotten the concept of sharing. Those who belong to the middle class will use every advantage they got, even at the expense of the poor, just so they can enjoy a little taste of luxury. And the poor, in a game of survival of the fittest, are left with no choice but to rely on savagery and raw power in order to survive in the urban jungle. And that could mean turning to a blue-collar job or to crime.

It was 1986 when people rallied towards the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong. Allegations of Pres. Marcos cheating in the snap elections ignited a flame in the hearts of the masses, which led to the demise of Mckoy. No, I wasn't around then. I had to rely then on books, teachers, my elders, and later on the Internet, to get an idea of what was so special about this People Power.

According to my sources, when Cardinal Sin requested the people to flock EDSA, since most Filipinos are Catholics, millions answered to the call of the nation's highest church leader. People from all walks of life, majority of which unarmed, gathered at the designated rendezvous point. In the face of the tanks, aerial bombers and soldiers armed with M16 rifles and handguns, the people stood their ground. Hand in hand, those who yearned for freedom formed human barricades, asking soldiers to abandon the commander-in-chief and pledge their loyalty to the Motherland and her children. There were students, though still wet behind their ears, who were bold enough to stand up against a bully. There were those who wooed soldiers with flowers, rosaries and prayers, while others set aside the perfect opportunity to make money out of the situation and gave away free food to those who participated in the peaceful revolution. This is the power of the people. This is the power of unity.

Of course, no revolution is complete without bloodshed. While People Power itself was peaceful, several lives, the last straw being Ninoy Aquino, were lost before it materialized. But somehow, it's these kinds of times that bring out the best in the Filipino.

Let me give you another good example. When Typhoon Ondoy struck the country, heavy rains brought flash floods that almost erased Metro Manila from the map. All of a sudden, rivals, be it personalities, companies and organizations, joined hands with one goal in mind: to provide assistance to the victims of the disaster. Thus, the spirit of bayanihan lived on.

I always thought that People Power is overrated, and I guess in my mind, it'll always be. Not to take away anything from the people, but their very triumph is tainted by the fact that the very person they kicked out of Malacañang had a hand in their success. If Pres. Marcos was as evil as the devil, he could've cared less if the there are children, women, nuns and priests among those who are demanding him to step down, and gave the order to have everyone on EDSA killed in the blink of an eye. You can think of hundreds, if not thousands of reasons why he didn't do it, but there's one good reason he could've done it. If I was in his position, and I'm going down, might as well take as many of you with me, at least that way, I have a chance, though small, of staying in power. Bottom line, Mckoy didn't pull the trigger. If you'll stick to this kind of perspective alone, you'll miss the bigger picture. People Power is not about dethroning a person in power, a common misinterpretation of the revolution's true purpose and value. People Power is people working together for a common goal.

In reality, in order for us Filipinos to cooperate with each other, we need a common enemy to defeat. And even after defeating that enemy, positive results are not guaranteed. After Marcos, how many hospitals and schools have the past four administrations put up? Combined, maybe just as much. Individually, I strongly believe it's a no contest.

Pres. Noynoy Aquino, in his speech today in the 25th Anniversary of the EDSA uprising, mentioned that because Marcos ruled with an iron fist, some were suffocated by numerous restrictions and founded rebel groups, like kids rebelling against their parents because they don't like being disciplined and didn't like the fact that their not getting their way. How about today? We're a democratic country now, but we still have as many, if not, more kids to worry about.

Military power, quality of education, economic status? Back with Marcos, I recall my folks telling me were somewhere in the upper echelon of all that. Now? Not so much.

25 years later, people have returned to EDSA. Some of the student activists during the EDSA Revolution are now grown up and became political leaders of the country. Unfortunately, they don't agree as much as they do back then and ended up squabbling among themselves.

The new student activists? Either too young to remember, be part or understand People Power. Instead, they whine about price hikes, like the youngsters they are, without even understanding the reason behind the phenomenon and the phenomenon itself (e.g. MRT fare hike). Worse, they fall into a sense of false bravado, thinking they are gutsy enough to cuss or ridicule politicians in a time when every president is trying their best to be the anti-Marcos. Way to go kids. But the good news is they're still giving away free food in EDSA today.

Play with mud and you get your hands dirty. That's how politics goes. Mckoy is not the perfect politician in any book. He had people killed and it's obvious that he took some of our dough. But the man can get the job done. The guy was willing to be sinful to make things right for the rest of us. It's not perfect nor ideal, but it works. Like what Karen Davila and Vic de leon Lima of DZMM said in their program Pasada Sais Trenta, it's really hard to make people believe that Martial Law sucks when the succeeding presidents can't deliver the goods.

So if a guy who failed to stop oil price hikes as DoE Secretary, and is allegedly involved in corrupt practices in the military gets a ticket to Libingan ng mga bayani, after shooting himself as an act of bravery and sacrifice for the greater good, then shouldn't a president who, despite all his crimes, has accomplishments that are yet to be outdone, not to mention, forced us to worked together against a common enemy, qualify for a burial in the grave of heroes?

If there's an important lesson that Christianity teaches us, it has to be forgiveness. As Vic Lima said, we can't always bank on the success of EDSA and put the blame on the Marcoses for our miseries. It's time for us to move on, and instead, learn from the mistakes of Mckoy, and the lessons taught by EDSA. And the greatest sign of moving on is granting the request of a fallen enemy. Hey, even Achilles granted King Priam's request for the dead Hector and he won them the Trojan War. Save for the fact that he died in the end.

If we didn't learn our lesson from the EDSA Revolution, well there's always next time. We still love taking it to the streets. And with the Aquinos and Marcoses still in power, who's to say that history can't repeat itself.