White hair chronicles XL - EDSA@25 Parang kailan lang

At EDSA's silver anniversary we will relive the stories that made the event an international icon. Parang kailan lang, I was a young government employee, part of the hakot brigade ferried to support Marcos in the Batasan canvassing. Partly as childish mischief, I transferred from the silent hakot wing to the noisy and boisterous anti-Marcos side. Our delegation head mildly chastised me for endangering myself and his job if government agents (he said there were many) were taking photos. But more than mischief, I felt it was my Filipino duty to show whose side we were on. We have found our voice and it was rising to a deafening crescendo. It is now time for us to speak that one voice again.

Parang kailan lang. The images I remember are juxtaposed to today's realities -Jim Paredes' hair are all white now. Joker Arroyo now a grumpy old man. Enrile is still at the center of government after jumping from side to side. Kris Aquino has gone from sweet to sour (may asim pa?). Gringo from Rambo to hiding to Senate. The Marcoses from bitter to bittersweet, back in the power center. Ferdinand Marcos from heel to hero (malibing kaya sa Libingan ng Bayani?). I have gone from black haired mischief maker to white haired mischief maker.

If VP Binay decides to allow Marcos' burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, I propose to change the name of Libingan ng mga Bayani to LBM (Libingan ng mga Bayani at Marcos), to express dissatisfaction at an  excretably sh*tty move.

Parang kailan lang. The generals now in the controversial military fund scam must be young captains or majors then. Presumably they were reformists but one of them went from Ligot to limot, I hope he goes straight to Lagot.

Parang kailan lang. Our iconic revolution has become a model that many nations will emulate even 25 years after. Myopic historians will use what happened to us two and a half decades after as counter arguments for similar uprisings. It is our duty to make the spirit of EDSA matter. It is a positive development in history despite the many negative events that transpired hence.

Parang kailan lang. Many will argue that we have not changed at all. Maybe! But even with perceived failures or unfulfilled promises, we should not forget what EDSA was all about, lest we drift back to silent apathy.

White hair chronicles XXXIX - Mubarak, from hero to heel in a generation

I was still in school when Egypt's Hosni Mubarak swooped into power after Sadat's assassination. Like a rock, Mubarak, has not moved from that position for close to thirty years now. In 1986, a few years after Sadat's sad death, we toppled our own immovable rock. We'll be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the event that inspired many other peaceful revolutions including this one in Egypt that removed a rock.

Back in those days, Mubarak, a war hero in his own right, heroically kept the peace that Sadat pursued. Mubarak's strong rule tactics maintained the peace. And in so doing, his nation and the world tolerated his clinging on to power.

The immovable rock eventually gave way to the irresistible force. We don't know if Barack told Mubarak to move like when they asked Marcos to cut and cut cleanly a generation ago.

Back then my niece was born. This year, she is about to become a mother herself. From hero to heel in a generation.

White hair chronicles XXII - I remember people power 1

Tempus fugit! It's now more than a generation since the EDSA people power revolt but I still remember vividly those heady days.

In '85, Marcos was still so well entrenched despite the swelling sentiment against his regime that he confidently called a snap election when pressured by his American masters. I personally thought there was no way Cory could win, even without Marcos cheating. The people were still deathly afraid of him. In my office then, a government corporation, the staff was even scared to talk about the signature campaign for Cory to run. Young and fearless, I did what to my office mates was unthinkable. I signed the petition. The signature campaign caught momentum and since then I knew Marcos' end was near.

I became part of my office's hakot brigade in the Batasan canvassing. The session hall was divided between the pros and antis. The government hakots composed the pros. The antis sounded to have more fun compared to the nervous air in the pros side. They  boisterously cheered each time Bono Adaza noticed small defects on a canvass. They booed when the chairman just said 'asteriks'. I cheered and booed with them even if I was on the pros side. I wandered around the corridors to find a way to get to the antis. When I got to the other side, I proudly waved at my office mates. Their shock and disbelief is still etched on my mind.

On the second day of the EDSA uprising, I asked them who's coming with me to EDSA. Although still very wary, many dared and went with me. The atmosphere was still tense, anything could still happen. But I believed it was just a matter of days before Marcos goes. They couldn't kill us all, I told my friends. By the fourth day, I was at home when it was announced that Marcos had fled. I went outside and shouted at the top of my voice "wala na si Macoy, lumayas na!".  Ah, those were the days.

For bad leaders people power is always a threat

“The Philippines has come a long way since 1986. We regained our freedom, our national pride and our will to get the country growing. Somewhere along the way, we became complacent. People power gained a partisan meaning which started to divide the nation once again,” this believe it or not, are the words of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as read by her stooge during the 24th EDSA anniversary yesterday.

“We have to be jolted into mass action once again to realize that sustaining our growth and freedoms meant constant vigilance not only to defend our human rights but also to protect our right to good governance...a dysfunctional government resulted in insufficient investments in healthcare, in education, even in the basic amenities such as clean water and electricity to remote barangays.” She was referring to Erap's aborted presidency and in effect justifying her ascension to power.

After her 10 years in office we remain off track in meeting our Millennium Development Goals (MDG) despite government-controlled statistics. Complacency crept in because her transactional politics weakened institutions meant for check and balance.

People power gained a partisan meaning that divides the nation again, GMA says. A beneficiary of people power herself, she does not get what it's all about. If the leaders forget why people ousts regimes and start to do as the ousted did, people power always threatens to divide a nation again.