Ohohoy!

The emotional days after the passing of democracy icon and former president Corazon Aquino have left the country reminiscing the glory days of the People Power revolution. As images of the past revolution against the Marcos dictatorship are flashed on TV and tunes such as Bayan Ko (beautifully sang by Lea Salonga during the Cory’s funeral mass) and Magkaisa are being sung again, I can’t help but reflect on the state of the country after Cory Aquino’s death.

After the ouster of the Marcoses in 1986, everyone seemed hopeful that change will come and the Philippines will emerge out of the hole that the dictatorship had so deeply dug. Fast forward 23 years after and what do we see? Imelda Marcos on TV being adored by fans, the Marcos children and the Marcos cronies and their children are back in power, the president of the country is Marcos Light (both literally and figuratively), the Congress is a haven for the president’s lapdogs, the Senate is tainted with self-serving media whore politicians, the justice system favors those who can put gold on its scales, and worst of all no one really cares.

The streets are always filled with protestors but few protests are actually genuine. Some are done by groups who are more than ready to raise their voices and march the streets if the price is right while some groups would do it with the slightest provocation (i.e. date gone bad) because that is what they do and that is what people expect them to do.

It would be unthinkable right now had the People Power Revolution not taken place. Can you imagine Imelda Marcos as the president of the country? I shudder to think.

So where did we go wrong? The Aquino government held so much promise and hope. It was what all of us wanted – a new beginning, a clean slate.

Could we be experiencing a different Philippines now if the fervid RAM (Reform Armed Forces Movement) headed by the should-have-been-hanged-for-treason-a-dozen-times-already senator had just been patient enough to cooperate with a transitional government? Would it have made a difference if the Aquino administration did not act as vindictive against the Marcoses and their cronies?

OR should the question be WHAT did we do to help the country stand up again?

…to be continued

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