Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Carvajal: They never really had it By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
SOME political analysts looking at the present chaotic political situation conclude that the spirit of Edsa is gone. More than gone, they say it has been squandered away. But I say, gone from whom? And just what is the spirit of Edsa?
For the poor farmers, slum dwellers, underpaid workers, student activists, concerned professionals and religious for whom Edsa was the culmination of a lifetime of bitter struggle against an oppressive regime the spirit of Edsa is very much alive.
However, I also believe that those whom analysts refer to as having lost the spirit of Edsa never really had it in the first place.
Edsa I was a genuine people’s revolution. It was spontaneous and was not led or instigated by the opposing faction of the oligarchy. Ordinarily when a revolution is won, the winners take over the reins of government. In the case of Edsa, it was the political opposition that took over, riding on the gains of the people’s revolution. In other words, the people won the revolution but, since they were disorganized, the political opposition (a faction of the ruling elite and not the people’s representatives) filled the political vacuum and took over power.
The political opposition of the right never had the spirit of Edsa. The people were fighting for freedom from powerlessness and poverty while the political opposition was fighting to get their regular turn at the wheel of the national ship. Neither did the left have the spirit of Edsa. They were not even at Edsa because a non-violent people’s revolution is not in their books. The only way they know how to take over power is through armed revolution.
Edsa II, contrary to what the oligarchs want us to believe, was not a genuine people’s revolution. It was not moved by the spirit of Edsa I. Edsa II was promoted and organized by the political opposition. Whereas at Edsa I the political opposition and opportunists simply rode on the spontaneous revolution of the people, in Edsa II the political opportunists went a step farther and organized it themselves for their goal of taking over power.
To me the greatest proof that the spirit of Edsa is alive is the fact that people refused to join the united opposition when they tried to instigate an Edsa III.
The spirit of Edsa is about genuine democracy and economic empowerment of the millions of poor Filipinos dominated by the ruling elite. The people still want that and in that sense the spirit is still alive.
It is, therefore, not so much that the spirit of Edsa is gone as that we continue to be ruled by those who never really had that spirit. Both the Genuine Opposition and Team Unity are, therefore, warned that if they refuse to read the signs of the times, the real Edsa II could still be coming.
