Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Sun.Star Papers Write The President: ‘No more Edsa for us’
Dear Mrs. President,
Last Sunday, leading the celebration of the 21st anniversary of Edsa People Power I, you said the world will reject a new Edsa people power revolt.
The world welcomed the first Edsa in 1986 when it toppled Ferdinand Marcos and tolerated Edsa People Power II in 2001 when it ousted Joseph Estrada from Malacañang, but the world, you said, will condemn a third Edsa.
You said the world cannot appreciate a country “whose political system is hopelessly unstable” and Filipinos “who are among the finest people in the world but who always shoot themselves in the foot.”
We can understand why it took you six years to say that, Mrs. President.
As Edsa beneficiary, you could not just scorn the process that installed you in power. As President after an Edsa, you have contributed vastly to people’s appreciation of Edsa or their loss of faith in it.
Flawed, an aberration
Sun.Star newspapers have pointed out that Edsa I was constitutionally flawed, an aberration of democratic system and yet the world embraced it because it offered escape from a conjugal regime.
Sun.Star has viewed Edsa II with greater suspicion and alarm. Was the country going to be a banana republic in which mobs evict by force or coercion those they think are unfit to rule?
We enjoyed euphoria from Edsa I that ousted a dictator. We felt relief from Edsa II that kicked out an inept and corrupt chief. But in each revolt, democratic institutions took a beating. Impeachment under the Constitution didn’t work.
Then came coups and would-be Edsas. How dare their perpetrators assume they spoke for the country and a strip of highway was situs of an entire nation’s grievance? The farce and the use of Edsa in clawing for power were appalling.
We agree with you, Mrs. President. Another Edsa is a crisis the country must do without: like a hole in the head or, using your simile, shooting ourselves in the foot.
As last resort
Yet, dismay about Edsa is also despair over those who govern. As long as rulers betray people’s trust and give reason for people to rise against authority, Edsa will continue to titillate power-seekers.
No opposition frenzy can whip up a people’s revolt. But no government force can repel a truly enraged people.
If there is absolute need, Edsa can be the last resort for those who find little hope elsewhere.
