EDSA 30 Years Hence: Part 2 Looking Back

EDSA People Power Revolution

To many people EDSA People Power Revolution or whatever they call it is just a historical monument at the corner of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue. But to me these are carefully locked memories in my mind. Today we only see pictures and wonder, why were they so angry at the it seems at the Marcoses? Why did EDSA happen in the first place? Why the big fuss about human rights abuses? Personally, I do not take the personalities involved too much into account. They were significant because at that particular juncture in our history God's hand intervened in the sufferings of our countrymen. To me what was more significant were the sacrifices of those who fought against the dictatorship, nameless and faceless and yes even grave less people who gave their lives for the freedom we enjoy today. But what is freedom? It is a word so taken for granted, simply because it now exists, when before it did not. Today at our convenience we play with our gadgets and take selfies all the time. We use our dash cams to document what unusual things we see on the streets. We watch videos we want on You Tube on demand. Let me tell you how we watched videos we wanted to see: hush-hush, a friend has a copy of the speech of Sen. Ninoy Aquino in the U.S. the "Betamax" tape would be watched with locked doors, and the volume absolutely low, so no one from the outside would here, government agents were everywhere posing as a balut, ice cream or taho vendor.

In schools, government agents or "ahentes" enrolled in universities to keep an eye on student activists, some joined the student organizations to infiltrate them. Dossiers of known student leaders were kept by the MISG (intelligence service). The left on the other hand similarly infiltrated the student organizations. One was recruited as a "youth volunteer", eventually he would be given tasks and finally invited to a BMC session. BMC meaning "basic mass course". This was the first step of recruitment into the Kabataang Makabayan or KM. During this time, in my belief, President Marcos and the regime was the greatest recruiter of student activists, KM cells were established in practically all the left wing student organizations. This made the underground or UG network strong and highly organized. The KM was also able to establish its influence among the fraternities and sororities in almost all, if not all major universities nationwide, including UST, my school - the bastion of Catholicism.

Cracks in the UG

Unknown to us in the lower echelons of the organization, the HO's or higher organs were already splitting apart. At this same time internally in the UG left, Oplan Missing Link was already in full swing. Our PO or political officer in UST eventually left us headless. Some of our friends after many years, we found out died in the hands of their own comrades.

Needless to say, if EDSA never happened, many university students would have joined in the mountains to fight the dictatorship. Maybe, in my opinion, with 100% certainty, it was God's hand that was at work, otherwise more youthful blood would have been shed in an even longer battle against the suppression of civil liberties.

Again, how people simply take freedom for granted. Now in my grey hair, my rage has been tempered against the old regime, I don't hate them. But the memories of the faces and lives we've lost should never be forgotten. We are to some extent veterans of a forgotten war.

EDSA 30 Years Hence: Part 1 The Awakening

I vividly recall how we were out the day before, this was the 80's and as a means to earn extra, we did "mobile disco" gigs. From Paranaque news came that Enrile and Ramos had defected to the opposition. This at that time was unimaginable. In college I was a member of ADJUST the UST left party, I also wrote for the student movement with the Pambansang Linangan at Ugnayan ng mga Manunulat (PLUMA) a writer's organization. By early morning Edsa sans the flyovers and the underpasses was already filled with people coming from all walks of life to demand the downfall of the Marcos regime.

For all the millennials who would read this today, I would just want to communicate to them how our freedoms were suppressed. How one could be arrested for saying things against government. A Facebook or an Instagram would not have existed back then, even if the technology was available, only because the Information minister would kill it. It's so easy to say an opinion about how well the government was run under Marcos, how great a leader he was. Just like any other issue, we are all entitled to our own opinion. But to say that Marcos was a great President, in my opinion is like saying that the Holocaust never happened, that it was a figment of imagination.

We lived a relatively privileged life, we were middle-class and in fact partly the clan was a member of the ruling class with Tito Aguedo Agbayani as Governor of Pangasinan and a member of the ruling KBL. But there was something in me that woke up in those days and even prior to 1986. I realized that thousands were going hungry, indigenous people's rights were being violated, freedom of speech and expression was non-existent. In 1982 the awakening began with a history teacher who said in class and I will never forget, "history is the key to the future" it felt more meaningful as she said it in Filipino, "ang kasaysayan ay ang susi sa kinabukasan." In 1983, Sen. Ninoy Aquino was assassinated, my brother Rene and George sat down at Little Quiapo, at that time, it was still located along Matalino street, where I believe KFC now stands. Perplexed and not knowing what to do, we discussed about the nation's future. At the tender age of 15, I joined the protest movements, my friend Joel Pelayo from Claret and myself joined the August Twenty One Movement (ATOM), two of us were the initial members. Here we met veteran street parliamentarians, the likes of Joe Umali, who later became an office mate together with Franchis "Kiko" Pangilinan, From hereon, there was no turning back at 16 we were actively joining in the street protests to call for the ouster of the regime.

In college, we joined the left groups. I eventually ended up in the National Union of Students of the Philippines and PLUMA, but by this time the left split was already happening. The position was Edsa was a middle class war, not that of the masses. To me it was a matter of opinion, I felt if the dictator is out, that would make the job of "revolution" easier for the mass movement. Others disagreed, the directive from the collective was "Edsa was to be removed in history and in the minds of the people", it was a mere middle class uprising rather than a class revolution.

Branding in the Age of Hyperinformation

As information overload invades every part of the Filipino household the key question is how will messages come across to the receiver. In the digital age, hyperinformation pervades across so many channels. From TV screens, to mobile, to social media and even to outdoor. While all these technologies continue to adapt and take on some form of intuition as in the case of Google, the question is, how will our message be heard in the midst of so much noise? Which one is the most effective medium? As many disruptors appear in the horizon, the greater the confusion becomes.

For brand people and public relations practitioners I believe there are lessons in history which continue to be true in contemporary culture. This is why reading and learning from history remains as effective today for planners as it was for many strategists of the past. So if you want to be an effective brand person who can communicate your messages well, the lesson simply is to read. History is the key to the future, it doesn't matter what technologies are available, the crucial pivot point remains our ability to adapt and be agile.