Cebu rites symbolic of Filipino struggle

President Fidel V. Ramos (left photo) does his trademark jump at the People Power Monument along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) during the kick-off of the 28th anniversary celebration of the People Power Revolution (INQUIRER PHOTO/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)

For the first time in 28 years, Cebu took the center stage of the anniversary of the People Power uprising in Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (Edsa).

Asked in a press conference after the anniversary rites at the Capitol grounds whether holding the anniversary here was not historical revisionism, the president was quick to point out that the nature of the anti-dictatorship movement was national and not limited to the four-day uprising in Edsa from Feb. 21 to 25, 1986.

“Revision ng kasaysayan? Para namang pwera ang Cebu noon sa kasaysayan na nangyari sa EDSA. Hindi lang naman sa EDSA nag-alsa ang taongbayan, kundi pati sa Cebu, sa Davao at napakarami pang mga lugar,”

Aquino answered during the brief media interaction after yesterday’s EDSA commemoration at the Cebu Captiol grounds.

“At palagay ko naman time na rin, after 28 years, na ma-recognize yung contribution ng ibat ibang lugar,” he added.

Aquino said celebrating the anniversary in Cebu “highlights” that the EDSA people power didn’t just happen only in EDSA in Manila but also  in other parts of the country.

Martial Law-era human rights lawyer, cabinet member of Pres. Corazon Aquino and Senator Rene Saguisag later said in a commentary over PTV4 that it is the right time for people to recognize the whole anti-dictatorship struggle and not just the Edsa uprising.

He said holding the 28th anniversary rites in Cebu is symbolic of that recognition. People should be educated that while the Edsa uprising ended the dictatorship of president Ferdinand Marcos, it is important to recognize the struggle of the Filipino people since day one of Martial Law on September 21, 1972.

Actor Dingdong Dantes (right), who played Ramos in the Cebu event, waves the Philippine flag. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)

Several key players in the 1986 Edsa revolution were also not able to attend yesterday’s commemoration but this, the President said, should not be a reason to diminish the Edsa anniversary’s significance.

“Lahat ng mga key players naimbita,” he said.

He however cited instances of some key players continuing to celebrate the EDSA anniversary even if they weren’t present yesterday. Aquino specifically mentioned former President Fidel V. Ramos who still performed his traditional “pagtatalon.”

Ramos and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who were instrumental in the ouster of the late Ferdinand Marcos, were not present in the celebration yesterday.

Cebu politics played prominently in the anti-dictatorship movement. Local political parties like the Pusyon Bisaya have propelled opposition politicians like Hilario Davide Jr., Marcelo Fernan and Antonio Cuenco in the Batasang Pambansa. In the 1970s John “Sonny” Osmeña was elected senator in 1971 until the senate’s dissolution by Marcos in 1972. Davide and the late Fernan became chief justices, while Cuenco and Osmeña remain active in Cebu politics.

Although thought as a stamp pad congress, the Batasang Pambansa became a potent platform to expose and oppose the excesses of the dictatorship.

PR STUNT

But not all agree to holding the Edsa anniversary rites here.

A representative from the academe sees the holding of the Edsa anniversary in Cebu as “betrayal.”

“It’s a betrayal of the real Edsa. You should celebrate Edsa, in Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, not in (Cebu) Capitol. What is the essence of celebrating it in a place where it didn’t take place? Para ingnon?,” said Phoebe

Zoe Maria Sanchez, Cebu secretary of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers.

She said there was no actual Edsa people power revolution in Cebu in 1986 but only a “moment of social effervescence” due to the fraudulent snap elections.

Instead, Sanchez, a Social Sciences professor in the University of the Philippines Cebu, described the commemoration as “politicking and a PR stunt.”

“It’s politicking. Cebu is the biggest voting population. We are an additional force and support. They always court Cebu, but they’re just doing this earlier than the allowed time. Hugaw akong pagtan-aw ana,” Sanchez said.

“It’s a PR stunt. It doesn’t prove anything. He said they came here to visit affected areas aside from Edsa and to see if there is really slow government response. But does it change anything?” she added.

Sanchez said the Edsa commemoration in Cebu is also P-Noy’s way to evade protest in Manila on the Cybercrime Law.

Sanchez said that not much has changed since the time of Marcos. She said the people power revolution didn’t really create structural change in government. She said it’s still the same as the Marcos scheme wherein the people are still at the mercy of the dominant and those sitting in power.

“There is no change. True people power lies in the people. It’s time the people will talk about Edsa not just the Aquino family. It should be from the people,” she said.

“Where is social effervescence when there is just one person or family there wearing yellow?” Sanchez added.

RELATED STORIES:

President Aquino leads Edsa celebration in Cebu

P-Noy thanks Cebu for sheltering Cory, Kris

‘People Power is no longer about Edsa’