INTELLECTUAL MASTURBATION

raging_ritch

I am a full-blooded ilocano. And for most of us from the Ilocandia, we are very much familiar with "Marcos".  I remember my relative saying, "it is the Republic of Ilocos because according to him, there was no representative of Ilocos in the 1987 Constitution Assembly". Everything Marcos was something better in comparison to the successors. You would still hear old folks say, "awan data ah di panaoen ni Macoy" (nothing compares to the Marcos' time). Like a true blue Ilocano, i have to agree that most books or literature shows the good side of the Marcoses.

If you ask me way back in grade school, all i know about the famous People Power Revolt is that the color that reigned is yellow, roses were given to the military, and that it was the reason why the Marcoses was forced out of office. I never tried to understand with my young mind how and why it happened because to me, Marcos was the great Ilocano leader.

When I entered the school publications, i learned to look at all sides of the story. Only then did I realize  that there is a great story behind Cory Aquino and the People Power. By 2000, another People Power happened. And still, there was the "usual suspects" Cardinal Sin, Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos. I thought at that time that the EDSA Dos is the way of the current generation to feel what it felt like during the first People Revolution. It somehow felt good.

In order to understand EDSA Dos, i have to understand the first and original EDSA. I realized that the first EDSA would set the bar of peaceful revolts across the globe. It was a plain homemaker, a grieving wife, that made history and became the symbol of freedom and democracy. Who would have thought that Cory Aquino is a tough woman inside. She withstood the coups and all the criticisms. And she was still there when the EDSA dos happened.

Cory Aquino is a leader. She proved it many times over the years even after her term ended in 1992.  Both EDSA Revolts she was there calling on all the Filipino people to stand up for what they believed in. However, what i admired most is when Cory admitted that EDSA Dos was somehow a mistake and then called upon the resignation of President Arroyo. That gesture may not have been as charismatic as both EDSA Revolts but then again the magic is still there. There are still people who follow her lead.

Today, as i write this, this is my own personal way of having to admit that i have been biased and had a close mind when it comes to the Marcos vs. Aquino presidencies. Today, I vocally admit that Cory is a great leader and that what she has done for the country managed to force us to move into action. Today, people continue to flock to La Salle Greenhills to get a glimpse of Cory. People pay their last respect to the woman who gave back to the Filipino people the freedom, democracy and the pride of being a Filipino. The whole world mourns with the Filipino People. Up to her death, THE MAGIC THAT IS CORY lives on.