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.
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