COMING BACK

In the battle of Philippine’s 2016 Vice Presidential race between Leny Robredo and Bongbong Marcos, the history repeated itself when the red and yellow, son of Marcos and another widow and pro and anti-Martial Law have fought once again.  Although the total votes garnered by Bongbong may not enough to ensure him the seat but 14 million is alarming which is big challenge to those advocated the peoples’ power in 1986.  If the trend will continue and will not make effective information drive about the evil of martial law, the Marcoses whom once the Filipinos have forced to exile can make a grand come-back in power again.  14 million is substantial number which means many are rapidly increasing to believe and accept the Marcoses again.  They are trying to rewrite the history.  This 14 million is largely the unaware youth who are the active to surf in the internet whose vulnerable mind are prone to see the good propaganda uplifting the Marcoses and the reverse to destroy their oppositions.   We are in the computer age now and it favors those computer aficionados because they are readily exposed to bite the baits laid by internet predators.  This youth and the misguided people are the susceptible cyberspace preys.  I may understand the children who were born on 1990’s and onward for they were not properly taught about Marcos regime though they must read the history.  Somehow I also do understand those people from Marcos bailiwick regions for what strongly drive in their hearts is their loyal kinship to their fellowmen though should be not the case.  What I can’t fully understand and accept are those people who are already old but did not learn the nightmare of martial law.  Where were these people when it was happened, where were them during the first EDSA revolution?

I think these people today are defending martial law because they see no change and no better result since EDSA-1 but these should not be cases and these are not the core essence of People’s Power.  We must remember that when the millions of Filipinos joined the revolution, the greatest outcry then was to oust, hound and prosecute the culprit of the country’s sufferings.  That was what we really fought for, and which was happened, so it shows today that it is just an alibi now to say nothing happened.  If they are saying that there is no change after EDSA-1 because there are still poverty, crimes and corruption, then these should not be blamed to people’s power but instead to people’s behavior themselves.  How many “non-EDSA” presidents were elected but did they see changes?  It means it’s nothing in the EDSA-1 because it takes a long process under not a mercurial leader.  If they are saying it was better before than today, then are they trying to say summary execution, censuring freedom of information and speech, stripping off human rights and the disappeared are fine as long as the nation is in order and clean?  Are they trying to say that abusing power, looting, graft, corruption, and building dynasty are acceptable as long as the country is said to be rich?  And then they will call themselves nationalistic?  Yes, some of these happened in the past are still at our present time but we’ve gone so far from the dark years.  By the way, how can it be rich if we are borrowing capital from World Bank, if the treasury is bankrupt and if unemployment sent Filipinos to work overseas?  Remember, foreign debt was ballooned and dollar reserved was empted when Marcos regime left the office on 1986.

Loyalists say the sin of the father must not be visited upon the son.  That is true but that the sins of your parent are clearly can be sorry and correct by its children.  But the family is not admitting the fault of their regime on the first place, believing that nothing is wrong with the martial law and there is nothing to say sorry.  It is dismaying to know that the Marcos family do not feel sorry for the victims of oppression and killed during martial law.  Buy the way, aside from the father’s sins, Bongbong himself has his share in martial law era.  In fact, he was a beneficiary of his father's absolute hold on power, an active collaborator as a government official himself, and ardent defender during the regime's dying days. He shares in his father's sins, and has many sins of his own.  I pity for his lost, he is almost there but….  For a man who doesn’t want to apologize for he doesn’t even know how to identify the obvious fault, the karma strike back.  And I think there is a part in the Bible that says if the hands will cause the body to sin, then it should be cut off.  Never try to put another Marcos.

EDSA-1 changed the profile of the Philippines but Filipinos’ behavior did not change.  The very intention of people’s power was to overthrow the tyranny, end the dictatorship and these are what should be inculcated in the youth.  In few years from now, those who fought against Marcos in 1986 will get old and will be gone.  In that case, there is a big possibility of having new era of Marcos administration.  We should continue our fight.  People who joined then in EDSA-1 should make reflection and reminisce the real battle then while the youth of today should be taught and refreshed.  Do not allow to rewrite the history.  Read books, listen to the radio or watch news in the reputable broadcasting and not in just any flight by night and unreliable articles or sites in the internet because there are so many lies and deceptions in internet.  Every idiot, every antagonist, everybody can easily access internet and freely write stories, photo shop images, fabricate alleged evidence to present in the internet just to malign whoever they don’t feel.  And ordinary, uneducated and misinformed people will easily believe, share and harmfully react specially those loyalists and biased supporters since it favors to their best interest such kind of irresponsible posts.  Let us continue our journey to the regained country.

Alex V. Villamayor

June 1, 2016