Monday, February 25, 2008 Mercado: EDSA, etc. By Ram Mercado First Person
EDSA 1 is the logical conclusion of the Marcos tragedy. The flight of the dictator, first to Clark, then to Hawaii was the penultimate chapter in a memorable saga called the New Society.
Edsa 1 may soon to be buried in the deluge of time. It is history remembered by our experiences and retrieved stories of the infamous era.
It is what the nation celebrated the past week, the commemoration of a struggle to freedom, restoration of democracy, the remembrance of greatness.
Twenty-two years after the event, we are still the same people struggling, according to former President Ramos, "in greed, corruption, and apathy."
These are big words, indeed. It would take a lifetime to understand and eliminate greed, to know and eradicate corruption, and to appreciate and emulate greatness.
What the average citizens are concerned foremost is to have three decent meals a day, a roof over their heads without threats from a demolition team, and shabu for many of our youth to keep them going.
People, most of them voters, anyway, do not really care whether the NBN-ZTE broadband deal was overpriced to a trillion. As long as they can watch Wowowee and Eat Bulaga in peace, there is a no reason why they should want to oust the sitting President.
The De Venecia father and son team may lambaste the Palace and the First Gentleman for all they care or Jun Lozada may a weep a river but the people just want to be left in peace. They prefer an undisturbed life while they earn their living by honest or foul means, send their children to diploma mills, and shout "praise the Lord" on Saturday evenings to Bro. Mike, or "Amen" to Bro. Ely.
During the Marcos years, people did not mind or care about strange animals like habeas corpus or corpus delicti, or whatever corpse is found by the roadside -- as long as the dead person was not a kin or a family member.
It is the nature of Filipinos not to get involved in extraneous problems. Some bishops encourage their flock to a "communal action". This requires concerted and coordinated motion. But the Pinoy is like his national animal, the carabao.
A herd of carabaos had to be struck by a whip or strong stick on the flank or on the back, one by one, to get them on line. This is how the farmer initiates communal action.
Communal action, Bishops-style, is nearly inciting to sedition. You put out Roman Catholics on the street to protest or demand the resignation of our cabalen from the Presidency, and you will be exposing innocent people to great harm.
The government gorillas, trained in the art of killing and capable of massacre if demanded by extreme circumstances, will shoot down people during a melee or uncontrolled uprising.
The prelates were trained and are prepared to die a martyr's death when it is so required. But poor Pedro, Pablo, and even Jun Lozada, they are not committed to shed their blood for future beatification. It is great to know that Apo Ceto (Archbishop of San Fernando) remains in the temperate mode in contrast to Apung Oscar (Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan) who is in aggressive overdrive against Malacañang.
Certainly Bishop Ambo David wants communal action, preferably in defense of Among Ed and his beleaguered administration. Under the Marcos regime, no problem of this kind as besets Gov. Panlilio remained unresolved for long. None of the deadlock and conflict now at the Capitol or Angeles City Council would have happened under martial law. Or an undecided electoral case like the present Pecson-Cunanan stalemate in Magalang.
That's what impresses me with the dictator: effective governance. Most people accepted Marcos's strongman rule. He encouraged birth control, allowed bomba films, and tolerated Imelda's habitual crooning.
Under Marcos, the nation was deep in debt to make it easier for future Presidents to pile up their own gargantuan without rancor; activists were tortured to save them from further cruelty; desaparecidos became organic fertilizer in many unmarked graves, unknown, unsung, unclaimed.
But the citizens kept the law and there was no need for sour graping lawmakers and moral reformers like former Speaker Joe de Venecia et al.
We, Pampangos, should thank the dictator Marcos for creating a Kapampangan hero in the martyrdom of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. as we had thanked the Japanese military for giving us a hero in Jose Abad Santos.
Now we have Senator Noynoy and Senator Jamby to be proud about ehem...
To all local pros or cons, give thanks also to Mr. Bong Pineda for giving us Among Ed as our leader.
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I want to make it on record that to my personal knowledge, a young lawyer from Angeles City was a freedom fighter in the fierce early months of martial law. He was captured by Constabulary forces and incarcerated, probably suffered torture. He is lawyer Edgardo D. Pamintuan, who became city mayor, now coordinating Presidential development programs for Central and North Luzon Beltway and as chairman, too, of Subic-Clark Alliance Development Council.
While Pamintuan prominently figured as an anti-Marcos rebel in the early years of martial law, Atty. Oscar Rodriguez, now city mayor of San Fernando, led the underground in Pampanga during the latter days of the dictatorship. The two are recognized local patriots and already rewarded in public office and responsible government positions.
