Far From Neutral Notions - Philippine politics, culture and stuff

Earlier today, several Marine Corps officers have apparently withdrawn their support for the government of PGMA. For a blow-by-blow account, please refer to the Philippine Commentary blog. Apparently, Colonel Ariel Querubin of the Marine Corps was protesting the unexpected relief of Marine Commandant M/Gen. Renato Miranda, and called on the people to lend their support to Miranda, EDSA style.

Everything seems to have settled down now, with several ranking officers providing M/Gen. Miranda’s letter of intent - apparently this is proof that his being relieved is his own decision? - and the Marines taking Col. Querubin into their custody for an internal inquiry. There was even talk of Cory coming down to the fort to lend support, but I don’t think she made it in time to make much difference - and what’s an EDSA without its best actors?

That’s actually probably the reason - from a very light-hearted standpoint mind you, please don’t take this analysis too seriously - that the rallies haven’t been able to put a dent in GMA’s armor. The key pieces aren’t there. Oh, not Cory, don’t be ridiculous. I’m talking about the drama, the passion, the Sin. The late, great(?) Cardinal Sin. He knew how to get people going. Though not really a good orator or a charming figure, he was a phenomenal leader. When he led, people followed. Too bad he didn’t know when to stop, and in his last decade people just tuned out his otherwise fiery rhetoric.

But I digress. The post is entitled EDSA Cha Cha because all these talks of a revolution in the streets are all just talk, so far. One step forward, another step back, then to the side… you get my meaning. In the last six months, there have been rumors aplenty of rallies, mass actions, coup d’etat, et al. So much so that these rumors don’t even ring the normal alarm bells in me anymore. I’ve almost become desensitized to the whole thing, and I’m not alone, nor the most affected. A couple of days ago, a friend and I were watching the developments on TV. Randy David was just picked up by the plainclothesmen, the crowd was being dispersed, and things were looking bleak. My friend turns to me and says, “Don’t you think they’d have learned by now? Why can’t they just leave it be?” He was, of course, talking about the futility of the protesters’ actions. Continuing, he says: “When are they going to stop doing this? What if the next one is just as bad, or worse? What are they going to do then?”

My incensced reply was, of course, “do it again.” And again, and again. Until there is someone in Malacañang who give’s a rat’s ass about the people. I’ve been thinking about that for some time now, and while I know it’s not a black and white thing, the bottom line is, there is not, there should not, be a magic number of times we could do an EDSA. You do it when you have to. As many times as you need to.

A lot of people say that the spirit of EDSA was lost when it was used to put GMA in power (EDSA II), and was further bastardized when Erap tried the same (EDSA III). Some would even say that the spirit of EDSA was nothing more than lust for power. More than a handful of my friends say that EDSA was not a revolution at all, because it didn’t change anything - because today, 20 years later, the same people that were deposed (the Marcoses) are back in power.

But EDSA wasn’t a power grab: it was fueled by everybody from the middle-class down, not by its upper-class figureheads. The true spirit of EDSA is not about changing one regime for the next, but about fighting for what’s right. That’s the genuine revolution there: not that we’ve changed the landscape of power, but that we now know that it can be done. It’s called People Power because everyday people were truly empowered, and for one shining moment they used that power to right a wrong. That’s what EDSA is about. That’s why you can’t put a cap on the number of times you can do it: as long as there’s a wrong that only EDSA can fix, you do an EDSA. You don’t stop righting a wrong simply because it becomes inconvenient, tiresome or hopeless. You just don’t.

So I’m not really dismayed by the repetitive dance steps involved in the EDSA Cha Cha. At least people still remember that we have that option. Now if only we can have a Cardinal with a really kick ass name…

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