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Cory’s “Army”: Organizing People Power, January 10, 1987
Cory’s “Army”: Organizing People Power
By Edward R. Kiunisala
January 10, 1987–AS SOON as Cory Aquino let it be known that she was not against the formation of a political party, her true-blue leaders began regrouping, reorganizing, consolidating and coalescing their political forces. With the political realignment, the battle lines between the pro-Cory and anti-Cory parties were drawn.
As of the latest count, no fewer than 14 political parties , aggrupations and organizations have come out for Cory. Many regional and local political entities have also committed their support to the lady President. Their first political task is to campaign for the approval of the draft constitution.
Ratification = Cory!
Before Cory left for Tokyo, three massive organizations had already sprung up in support of her call for the ratification of the proposed charter. These are the Lakas ng Bansa, a powerful political movement, led by Cory’s cabinet ministers; the Conglomerate of Business Groups, composed of business and industrial leaders; and the Coalition for Constitutional Approval, a five-party entity, whose initials, CCA, correspond with those of Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.
The original plan was to put up a single, all-encompassing administration party that would provide Cory with strong political support in the task of normalizing and rebuilding the country. It was obvious that Unido, the party under which Cory ran for and won the Presidency, was more of an enemy than a friend of Cory’s, an obstacle rather than a help in the realization of Cory’s vision.
Again and again, no less than Unido’s top guns, “Doy” Laurel and Rene Espina, attacked Cory’s stand. Unido’s dubious allegiance to the President was intolerable. Then came “Doy’s” open flirtations with Cory’s No. 1 challenger, Enrile.
Like Enrile, Laurel battled for presidential election in case the electorate turned down the draft constitution. He also subscribed to Enrile’s belief that the repudiation of the proposed charter would constitute a repudiation of the Cory government. Worse, “Doy” even agreed with the Marcos “loyalists” that there was no documentary proof of a Cory-Doy victory in the last election, ignoring the overwhelming circumstantial evidence in favor of such a victory.
“Doy’s” liaison with the Marcos-Enrile gang and the muscle-flexing of the Marcos political tail, the KBL, and the so-called NP wings of Palmares and Cayetano prompted Cory’s supporters to do some seducing and muscle-flexing of their own. Lakas ng Bansa attracted to its fold political parties while the five-party coalition of the CCA underscored the political clout behind Cory. The lady President is clearly far from helpless as she sometimes appears to be.
The CCA’s lead party is the PDP-Laban, founded by the late Ninoy Aquino, now headed by Cory’s brother, “Peping” Cojuangco. Cory’s brother-in-law, “Butz” Aquino, with his militant Bandila, is also there. So is Salonga’s wing of the Liberal Party. Ramon Pedrosa’s Pilipino Democratic Socialist Party and Raul Manglapus’s Union of Christian Democrats complete the five-party coalition.
Another organization that has thrown its weight behind Cory is the Conglomerate of Business Groups, which draws individual members from different business and industrial organizations, like the Lions, the Rotary and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries, among others.
Committed to Cory’s economic recovery program, the CBG counts with great influence in the world of business and industry, both here and abroad. Its support has given Cory a stronger moral authority to carry out her program of government.
The Greatest
But the grandest alliance of all is, perhaps, the Lakas ng Bansa, organized by Cory’s closest supporters, many of whom are members of the Cabinet. Although identified only as a political movement, it is considered as Cory Aquino’s “party of the future”. Right now, its top leaders are about the most visible, audible and credible spokesmen of the Cory government. Its president and seven of its 13 vice-presidents are all cabinet ministers.
The Lakas ng Bansa roster of officials reads like a Who’s Who in the government. Justice Secretary Neptali Gonzales, who bolted the Unido, is the movement’s president, Budget Minister Alberto Romulo, who threatened to leave Unido, is vice-president of the National Capital Region.
Other ministers who occupy vice-presidential positions in the Lakas ng Bansa are Heherson Alvarez of Agrarian Reform, Region II; Ramon Mitra Jr., of Agriculture, Region VI; Luis Villafuerte of Reorganization, Region V; and Antonio Cuenco of Political Affairs, Region VII. The remaining vice presidential positions were vacated by Ernesto Maceda and Rogaciano Mercado but will be filled up by top political leaders of their respective regions who also hold high positions in the new dispensation.
Judging from its composition, the Lakas ng Bansa, also known as Laban, is virtually the political movement of the administration. No other single political entity is more conversant with the over-all thrust of the Cory government than Laban, whose principal organizers are also some of Cory’s most trusted advisers. It has the blessings of “Peping” Cojuangco and its day-to-day affairs are run by its secretary-general, “Ding” Tanjuatco, Cory’s cousin.
Laban looks like a stronger version of the Unido, although the latter is a duly-registered political party while the former is not. Its membership comes from a much-wider political spectrum than Unido can ever hope to have. It expects to absorb all the pro-Aquino political forces and groups, like the Cory Aquino for President Movement, Cory Crusaders, Bisig, Bayan, Lakas ng Pilipino, Bansa, Kaiba, and many others.
Its founding fathers come from different political parties, like the Liberal, Nacionalista, PDP-Laban and even Unido itself. Not a few KBL leaders have already expressed their willingness to join. Its membership, according to Tanjuatco, is open to “all Filipinos, here and abroad, young and old, rich and poor of whatever sector, religion or affiliation.”
Said Tanjuatco:
“Lakas ng Bansa is People Power continued, institutionalized nationwide, and reinforced with a driving vision to emancipate the Filipino people from all forms of poverty and tyranny. The movement will not stand aside ad watch democratic gains eroded. It will not only rally to defend these gains but it will also mobilize to consolidate them.
“We must realize that although we have driven the former president away, he has left behind his destructive and dismal legacy. In many areas of our country, his clones and heirs apparent — but more seriously his distorted values — remain firmly entrenched. A great movement of People Power is needed to expose and bury once and for all these vestiges from a recent and unlimited past.”
Ready!
Many of Laban’s organizers hope to convert their movement into a duly-registered political party. If they haven’t taken positive steps towards that end yet, it is in deference to Cory’s wishes not to disturb the present so-called “rainbow coalition”. But they are ready. At a moment’s notice, when the movement’s directorate so wishes, Laban will be registered with the Commission on Elections as a full-fledged political party.
Its organizational set-up is virtually complete, including the draft of its constitution and by-laws. It has already adopted the slogan — “Lakas ng Pagkakaisa, Lakas ng Bayan” — a red dove in flight with a broken chain attached to its leg. The red dove, according to Laban officials, symbolizes a courageous and gentle people in their journey towards liberation as represented by the broken chain.
About 2,500 delegates attended the launching of Lakas ng Bansa at the Valle Verde Auditorium in Pasig, Metro Manila. PDP-Laban’s “Peping” Cojuangco and Jose Yap were there. So were Villafuerte and Cuenco of Unido. But “Doy” Laurel and Rene Espina, Unido’s “dynamic duo”, were conspicuously absent. All the delegates were one in their stand to protect Cory from what they called “remnants” of a horrible regime and other “adversaries.”
First Objective
Lakas ng Bansa was established, according to Minister Gonzales, principally to support Cory’s effort in rebuilding the nation, and its doors are open to all, even to card-carrying members of established political parties without their losing party membership. It was organized, he stressed, “not in opposition to, but in harmony with existing political parties that support President Aquino”. Its first major objective is to restore constitutional democracy “by working for the ratification of the new constitution”.
To repeat, the battle lines have already been drawn. On one side are pro-Cory parties, groups and aggrupations, numbering no fewer than 14 national entities, not counting the seven regional and local ones. On the other side are only two political parties: Enrile’s Nacionalista Party of Palmares and Cayetano and Marcos’s abominable KBL. You may add a third one, if you don’t consider Kalaw’s Liberal Party circus a mere nuisance.
As for Adaza’s Mindanao Alliance, forget it. Such an alliance is only between Homobono and Adaza, for, by and of Homobono Adaza himself. For all intents and purposes, Adaza is nothing more than an appendage of Enrile’s political gang. Kalaw and Adaza used to be “supporters” of Cory, but for one reason or another, they parted ways with her after she assumed power. Wittingly or otherwise, both have in effect aligned themselves with the Marcos-Enrile alliance while maintaining their individual political identity.
In the case of Unido, one has to play it by ear. After wagging against the draft constitution earlier, “Doy” Laurel is now wagging in favor of it. Perhaps, he is playing it by ear as he awaits the wigwag from his elder brother, “Pepito”, who calls the shot in his own wing of the Nacionalista Party. One thing is clear: “Doy” will zig when “Pepito” zigs and zag when “Pepito” zags. Expect Rene Espina to zigzag along with them.
But “Pepito’s” mind is made up. He is for the ratification o the proposed constitution, which, he believes, is an improvement on the 1973 Constitution, “designed for the one-man rule of Marcos”. While the draft charter is “an imperfect document” says “Pepito”, it can “satisfy the desires and even the demands of all the segments of our society”.
He adds:
“I would never have signed the draft constitution if I believed it would be inimical to the Filipino people. On the contrary, I felt that for all its imperfections and shortcomings, it would guide and inspire us in the fashioning of a freer and richer future after the ordeal of the past despotism from which we are still trying to extricate ourselves.
“It is a worn argument, I suppose, but it is no less valid for the telling, and so I repeat the ratification of this constitution will provide our country with the stability it needs to plan more realistically and to adopt more enduring policies for the days ahead.”
Blas Ople’s Partido Nacionalista ng Pilipinas is also for the approval of the draft constitution. While some PNP members are against it, Ople and his three PNP confreres, who were ConCom members, like Pepito, are duty-bound to uphold what they helped to formulate. Ople’s closest side-kick in the PNP, Teodulo Natividad, also a ConCom member, has already put himself squarely behind the ratification of the proposed charter.
In his typically bombastic manner, Ople announced that the ratification of the new constitution “will erect the sovereign ramparts” to foil all existing conspiracies against the Republic, making all “hidden agendas” obsolescent. He also warned that those who want to seize power still hope to abort the plebiscite and “prolong the constitutional vacuum” because they know that the ratification of the new charter will “foreclose their option of mass violence for toppling the government.”
Blasted Ople:
“All claimants to power, therefore, increasingly realize that the period for an unconventional challenge to the government is definitely capped by the cabinet deadline. Beyond that date, they will have to recast their plans to be able to stay in the game, by preparing for constitutional and peaceful elections.”
The Tried and Tested
But Cory will have to bank on her tried-and-tested supporters to hurdle one of the severest tests of her political career: the approval of the draft charter, whose repudiation could be perceived as a public rejection of her young administration. Such a perception, however, could only come from a distorted sense of logic. Cory had nothing to do with the formulation of the proposed charter, except to appoint the people who drafted it. Whatever flaws it has should not be blamed on Cory but on the people who produced it.
Unlike the 1973 Constitution, which was written for and in behalf of Marcos, the 1986 draft charter is the product of the free interplay of ideas among 47 commissioners insulated from Malacañang influence. Nobody can accuse Cory of doing to the 1986 proposed charter what Marcos did to the 1973 Constitution. In other words, if the people rejected it in the plebiscite, they would do so not because they had withdrawn their support from Cory but because they disapproved of the proposed constitution. So, let Cory call for an elected — this time — constitutional convention!
But the Marcos-Enrile political gangs do not see it that way. They had been peddling the idea that rejection of the new charter would mean the withdrawal of public support from Cory, and therefore, Cory must get a fresh mandate from the electorate to continue in office. And yet, they don’t want Cory to campaign for the ratification of the new charter. Where’s the logic there?
The Challenge
Logical or not, Cory has accepted the challenge — and she is campaigning for the ratification of the proposed constitution, partly because she wants to settle, once and for all, the fake issue of the legitimacy of her government, principally because she really believes that the approval of the draft charter is a giant step towards normalcy and national stability. What the means is that Cory is willing and ready to give up her vast powers under the Freedom Constitution in favor of the 1986 constitution, which establishes limitations on the powers of the Presidency. She’s not power-hungry.
If Cory were like Marcos, she wouldn’t give a hoot for the draft charter. Its rejection would be sufficient justification for her to continue wielding her plenary powers under the Freedom Constitution and call for an elective ConCom to draft another Constitution. Until the electorate approved a new charter, she could go on ruling under the mantle of a revolutionary government. She would be an all-powerful Chief Executive for as long as she continued to enjoy the trust and confidence of her people — which she does.
But Cory is not Marcos—and she is infinitely more perceptive than Marcos, who viewed things only in the light of his insatiable greed for power and self. Precisely because of that, she is working hard for the approval of the new constitution although it means the diminution of the powers that she currently enjoys. Cory’s support for the ratification of the new charter is proof to all that she is no power-hungry politician.
Self-Abnegation
When Marcos “lifted” martial law, he did it only on paper. He retained his vast powers, even the power over the lives and fortunes of his critics and enemies. This is not the case with Cory. If the proposed charter is approved by the people, Cory will have much less power than she would have under the 1935 Constitution. Hers will be a republican government answerable to the people, from whom government powers should emanate.
On this score, a large segment of the people are behind Cory all the way. Besides the Lakas ng Bansa, the Coalition for Constitutional Approval and the Conglomerate of Business groups, other large movements have recently organized themselves in support of Cory’s campaign for the ratification of the proposed constitution. Noteworthy are Bansa, composed of some 20 large farmer organizations, led by former Huk Supremo Luis Taruc, and Kaiba, the biggest women political party of the country today, led by Princess Tarhata Lucman.
Lakas ng Pilipino, headed by Charito Planas, is also campaigning for the approval of the new constitution. So are Partido ng Bayan of the late Rolando Olalia and the Lapiang Manggagawa of Jose Villegas. The Philippine Islamic Democratic Party has also come out openly in favor of the approval of the proposed charter. Even militant organizations , like Gabriela, Bisig and Bayan are behind Cory.
Cory’s Unarmed Forces
All these political parties, aggrupations, civic organizations and militant groups now constitute Cory’s unarmed army, which is committed to preserve the gains of the People Power Revolution. They are behind Cory in her quest for a stable and prosperous nation, as they stood by her in her struggle to oust the Dictator. Whether they will eventually fuse into a single political party for Cory or not, the fact remains that they are now solidly one behind her.
Their militant interest in the country’s welfare should serve as a warning to all those, particularly Enrile’s military coup-koos and the Marcos Mafia. These would kill the Filipino people’s newly-recovered rights and liberties — again! Having organized on its own free will, Cory’s “army” is out to prove that People Power remains a tower of strength for a people who loves justice and peace. How strong that Power is will be shown in the outcome of the plebiscite on the proposed constitution.
Our Revolution, May 3, 1986
Letter to friends overseas
Our Revolution
By Isabel Caro Wilson
Dear Friends:
May 3, 1986–There are so many human interest stories of courage and glory! The women, I think, were the bravest. Many men I know were forced to follow their women – once out there, however, they more than made up for their timidity. The youth, young people who had known no President except Marcos, were passionately for change. Nuns, holding rosaries and holy water, playing a new role: that of negotiator, pleading with soldiers not to use tanks and guns on unarmed citizens. Priests and seminarians, in soutanes, helping to organize human barricades. The masses of people who kept vigil on a 24-hour basis with no thought of food or comfort. The soldiers. Give them credit for refusing to obey orders to shoot their fellow Filipinos. It was revolution of the spirit. People power at it best guided, no doubt, by God power so that in the end right prevailed over might.
It is said that our type of revolution would not succeed anywhere else. Perhaps we are truly unique. All know is that we have vindicated ourselves. We have cleansed our souls and it feels good.
My warmest appreciation for your thoughts and prayers – I know you were with us in spirit. Maraming salamat for stretching your hand in friendship when we most needed it.
Here then is a personal experience:
It was building up, yet when it finally happened we were surprised. I speak of the revolution which overnight (4 days actually) transformed our country and left us breathlessly, exhilaratingly free. I think what makes us so joyous (aside from the glorious feeling of having accomplished something great) is the knowledge that we have unburdened ourselves of a much-hated dictatorship. No more hatred, tension or negative vibes to sap our energies. Now we can face our problems with vigor and vitality.
The massive fraud and terrorism unleashed during the February 7th election was the proverbial straw which broke the camel’s back. Made insensitive by the arrogance of power, the Marcos regime miscalculated (for the final time) the people’s tolerance and patience. This total insult and disregard of the soverign will proved to be their undoing.
The revolution started, as far as I am concerned, on August 21, 1983. On that fateful day when Sen. Benigno Aquino was mercilessly assassinated, all decent Filipinos took stock themselves and realized that they were in part responsible for the abuses and corruption in government. We translated our disgust in varied ways – many took to the streets to demonstrate and protest. It is important to remember that rallies were started by concerned women’s groups, middle and upper class matrons, and previously uninvolved business executives- not by students or the radical left. Thus, street demonstrations, complete with yellow confetti (mostly shredded yellow telephone pages) became a weekly happening on Ayala Avenue, Makati’s financial district.
The intensity and duration of the rallies lasted for almost a year. The economic crisis, the need to work and maintain a semblance of normalcy lessened street protests. On the surface, life seemed normal, but the anger, frustration and alienation of the people against the government deepened. Sustained anger is debilitating so that most of us felt completely drained and helpless. Yet we were determined that Marcos, his wife, his cronies and his abusive officials would, sooner or later, have to go. The politization of the Filipino was going on despite fear of reprisals from the dreaded military, headed by Gen. Fabian Ver. Although we did not voice it, many of us who were openly opposing were constantly fearful of being picked up by the military.
The announcement by Marcos on the David Brinkley show last November of a “snap” election caught everyone off guard. After 20 years of one-man rule, the opposition was in a shambles. Given the Filipinos’ lack of discipline and extreme individualism, we were all pessimistic about the opposition parties uniting to effectively fight Marcos. The ballgame was in court, with his rules and his referees – it was impossible match.
Furthermore, with Christmas holidays, the actual campaign period was much too short. The time set for election was February 7, 1986. Marcos is a supertitious man and he considers 7, or any multiple of 7, as his lucky number. In this case, it proved to be his nemesis.
Cory Aquino accepted the challenge drafting her as Presidential candidate after more than a million signatures were gathered. Doy Laurel sacrificed his ambition to run for President and accepted 2nd billing as Vice-President. Both candidates ran under Doy’s Unido party. Cory did not have a political party. Cory did not have a political party, no machinery to organize her campaign, no money, no logistics. All she had were the Filipino people’s faith and commitment. She presented a symbol of hope and our desire for change. She was the antithesis of Marcos – simple, intelligent, clean and honest – a fresh breeze across our polluted landscaped.
Volunteers for the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) were mobilized across the country with Namfrel Chairman Joe Conception (on his white charger) leading over 550,000 pollwatches to brave the entrenched, power-mad Marcos political warlords. In Makati, I headed more than 2,500 volunteers—housewives, students, business executives and professionals. We were force to reckon with and worked very hard to master the duties of pollwatching. We were well organized, totally committed, determined with innocence and blind faith to effect peaceful change through the ballot. We did not realize how evil the forces were against us. From our experience as Namfrel pollwatcheers in 1984 (election for assemblymen) we were familiar with the harassment and intimidation tactics of Mayor Yabut’s barangay captains and henchmen. However, we were totally unprepared and ill-equipped to protect our volunteers against the massive onslaught of hooliganism, fraud and outright terrorism which marked the conduct of election in 1986.
The KBL (Marcos’s political party) strategists conceived a devilishly clever plot: the disenfranchisement of approximately 30% of the legitimate voters. This was effectively done by scrambling the voters’ lists as a result of which many, many voters could not find their names and were unable to cast their votes. Namfrel estimated that 3.3 million votes were lost, presumably a high percentage of which would have been cast for Cory Aquino and Doy Laurel.
Our election was well covered by local foreign correspondents and the world witnessed what happened here. I will not, therefore, go into detail. Suffice it to say that we were cheated badly and to add insult to injury, his rubber-stamp. Assembly proclaimed Marcos the winner.
The gloom was palpable. Those of us who naively hoped that by our commitment change could be effected were in a state of shock. We could not admit that we were helpless and in the grip of evil forces. Many expected to be picked up and jailed, or, at the very least, face continous harassment or danger. The prospects for the future looked grim, indeed! And then events took a different and unexpected turn.
Saturday – February 22nd. Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile is warned of impending arrests and calls General Fidel Ramos. Both barricade themselves in the Defense Ministry and announce their resignation from the Marcos administration. The politician and the professional soldier, side by side, finally proclaim their solidarity with the Filipino people.
Enrile goes on the air to appeal for help. He urgently asks people to come and surround the army camp, hoping to (1) prevent a military attack on unarmed civilians and (2) gain time to consolidate his forces and rally the military to the people’s cause.
Cardinal Sin also goes on a radio exhorting priests and nuns and all citizens to go to Camp Crame to assist the beleguered armed forces. By early Sunday morning the crowd has swelled to more than 40,000.
Marcos in Malacañang is stunned and, fortunately for us, does not take immediate action to squelch the rebellion. Had he done so, I would not be writing this today.
Sunday, February 23 – Masses of people assemble to protect the military. Barricades are set up in strategic ares to stop tanks and armored personnel carriers. Women (nuns are in the forefront with their rosaries, fatih spilling from their unlined faces) and children are stationed in front to negotiate with the soldiers and stop the tanks. It is inspiring to see whole families keeping vigil. People from all walks of life join hands while intersections leading to Camp Crame are jammed with buses alongside Mercedes Benzes as the first line of defense.
Marcos goes on the air to proclaim that he is in control and scolds Enrile and Ramos to stop their stupid and foolish acts of “treason.” Nobody pays attention.
Radio Veritas, the Catholic station, is broadcasting round the clock and keeps the nation alert. The announcers do a yeoman’s job of passing information and coordinating aspects of the revolution: food and water needed here; more people needed there; a boy lost and found; tanks approaching; General Ramos giving a progress report; bits of information to keep us going. Another day passes and the tension increases. Will Marcos order an attack on unarmed civilians? The early morning hours are the most dangerous and calls are made for more people to come and join the movement.
Monday, February 24th – my birthday and the height of our wonderful, glorious rebellion. What a birthday gift!
Early morning news has it that Marcos and his family have fled the country. Great rejoicing only to be crushed by the sight of the dreaded man on TV to bedevil us some more with his pronouncment that, contrary to reports, he is very much around and stresses that he has no plans to resign or concede. He also states that maximum tolerance has been junked and he will fight to the last drop of his blood.
A very subdued crowd resumes its vigil, somewhat desperate but totally committed. By now millions are in the streets guarding the military and blocking strategic intersections.
Radio Veritas is blasted off the air. Another radio station is secured, hook up is made so that news goes on after an ominous silence. How this is done is another saga of bravery and Filipino ingenuity.
Rebel forces take over Channel 4, the big government-owned TV station, with a minimum of violenc. Broadcasters who can get to the station take up positions behind and in front of the cameras. No one and everyone is in charge. Calls are made for TV technicians to report, post haste, to help operate the station.
Fear and tension escalate as helicopters and planes hover above the crowd. Someone starts to pray and the chnat is taken up. Somehow prayers are reassuring. No one moves. Lo and behold, the helicopters land at Camp Crame. Cheers and tears of relief. We did not know that the helicopter pilots had been instructed to strafe Camp Crame but disobeyed the command.
At around 7:00 pm Marcos announces a 6:00 am to 6:00 pm curfew. Our group is with the crowd guarding on of the entrances to Channel 4. We hear Marcos making stupid noises and ecide to disregard him- he has lost cotrol. Cory is our President after all!
Although millions of people are in the streets, there is total order: Courtesy and civility prevail – love flows and we are all supportive of one another. Filipinos of all shapes, color and creed, togetherr in a common cause. It’s indescribably heartwarming.
My children take the grave-yard shift (11:00 pm to 6:00 am) at Camp Crame. I join friends to man the barricades at Channel 4 from 6:00 pm to midnight. Without anyone orchestrating schedules, people assign themselves to various duties. Food brigades are on the ready. “Snap” toilets are installed by some concerned companies. A matress manufacturer distributes foam sheets for the sleeping “sentries” to lie on; water carts are located in various places; homes are opened so that ladies may use the bathroom; passengers are discharged by the busloads to help man barricades which are thinly covered; wet towels soaked in kalamansi are passed around to be used in case of tear gas; body count and human contact enable everyone to draw courage from one another.
Tuesday, February 25th – Cory Aquino is to be sworn in as the duly elected President of the Philippines at the Club Filipino (chosen because of its proximity to Camp Crame). The atmosphere is wild and filled with joy.
Marcos has his own inuguration on the same morning at Malacanang. By contrast, the atmosphere there is grim and heavy with foreboding.
After some rest, our group reassembles, this time to inside Camp Crame to feed the soldiers. The armed forces are defecting and Camp Crame has more soldiers than it can feed. Volunteers are cooking, kitchens are set up and we are on duty from 5:00 pm onward. We start out at 2:00 pm since it will take us 3 hours (due to barricades and crowds) to get into the Camp.
Inside the base canteen we split our group: four of us to help in the kitchen; the rest (26 more) sweep the camp. Thousands of peopl on an emergency basis can generate tons of garbage. ouR ladies (unused to doing such drudgery) take to their brooms with unusual vigor. By nightfall bonfires are lit to burn the litter. I am on K.P. and glad of it – feeding hundreds of soldiers is far better than sweeping dirt as far as I am concerned.
Going home that evening, boneweary and sort of despairing, we muse on the gim possibilities ahead of us. We feel we cannot go on much longer before violence erupts.
9:00 pm. The phone rings and a friend reports that Malacañang appears to be empty. People are going in, the Marcoses have fled the country. I am too tired and too stunned to react. There’s no confirmation on radio or TV.
9:45 pm. Friends call to confirm the report. Let’s drive to Malacañang and see for ourselves, they enthuse. No, I reply, I’ve had enough crowds and cars for the moment. I’ll celebrate quietly and take it all in by myself.
10:00 pm. It’s for real – Marcos has left! We are free at last! The heaviness is gone. The years of alienation and oppession are over. We are ecstatic, sad, hopeful, apprehensive, stunned. What next? Tomorrow will be another day of what?
So, dear friends, we must rebuild our shattered society. Twenty years of plunder have wreaked havoc on our economy, not to mention our national psyche. There is much to be done.
At thanksgiving rallies and appropriate occasions I wear a T-shirt which states “I am a veteran of the Philippine Revolution”. Our cars have stickers proclaiming for all the world to read: “I am proud to be a Filipino.” I am.
Much love,
Isabel
Filipino political humor, February, 1986
Filipino Political Humor
February 1986–“Amang” Rodriguez, known as “Mr Nacionalista” and famous for his malapropisms, congratulated U.S. Pres. Dwight Eisenhower on a speech the latter had just delivered saying, with a radiant smile:
“That was a great speech! It should be published posthumously.”
Sebastian Ugarte of football fame and after whom the field in Makati is named liked to tell this story about an aide of Commonwealth Pres. Manuel Quezon in exile in the United States during World War II. Vice-Pres. Sergio Osmeña Sr. should have succeeded Quezon as President when the latter’s term expired under the Constitution, but Quezon would remain President. His aide loudly supported him, referring contemptuously to Osmeña as:
“That Chinaman.”
Quezon died and Osmeña became President.
“At last,” exclaimed the former Quezon aide, “we have a statesman!”
When Manuel Roxas, who had been accused of collaboration with the Japanese invader, split the Nacionalist Party, formed the Liberal and announced his candidacy for the Presidency against Osmeña the professional nay-yea sayer expressed the highest indignation at Roxas’s action:
“That collaborator!”
The Roxas won.
“Now, we have an economist!” rejoiced the man of all politcal seasons.
The wittiest of the lot was Mayor Arsenio Lacson of Manila, a man of “infinite jest” and well, invention. Lacson, who was also the best sports writer the country ever had, and even up to now, described a fistic encounter between two old senators right in the Senate hall as:”The battle of a couple of centuries.”
Then Pres. Elpidio Quirino who was suffering from a severe case of gout, received this accolade from Lacson: “He has one foot in the grave and the other foot goosing the Filipino people.”
Lacson called Manuel de la Fuente, the preceeding mayor of Manila, “Canvas-back De la Fuente,” from the once-upon-a-time pugilist’s alleged propensity for hitting the canvas.
It was all in fun, of course. That was the Age of Innocence.
Lacson’s best was probably this:
After a senator involved in a war-surplus scandal decided to run for President, he went to Quiapo Church for reassurance on his candidacy from the Black Nazarene.
“Lord, what are my chances in the election?” asked the kneeling candidate.
“May suerte, ka,” said the Black Nazarene. “May suerte, ka.”
“Thank you, Lord,” said the happy man.
The following month, he sought further reassurance and once more received the same comforting reply.
But how could be possibly win against the formidable advantages of his opponent? In an anguish of doubt he went to the church for the third time and on his knees, torn between the previous answers of the Black Nazarene and his new uncertainty, cried:
“Lord, Lord, what are my chances in the election?”
Said the Black Nazarene:
“May suerte ka nga nakapako ang aking paa, kung hindi, sisipain kita!”
What’s been happening to the Filipino people, what’s being done to them is no laughing matter. Humor out of such suffering should be as difficult of extraction as water from stone, blood from turnip – but humor issues, just the same. Filipino wit is irrespressible. It may amount to nothing more than whistling past a graveyard. But if one can still laugh at one’s situation however grim it may be, it can’t be as bad as all that. Laughter wards off despair. It is also the oppressor’s secret weapon, though not wielded by him; he is a mere beneficiary. For while one is laughing, one can’t be mad.
The best practising wit around these days is probably Alejandro Roces, former secretary of education and author of one published book on the Filipino fiesta and several more awaiting publication. Here’s Anding:
Of a KBL candidate for the National Ass. in l978, Anding said that the man was so old “he was godfather at the baptism of Andres Bonifacio” – which the man troubled himself to deny.
Another KBL bet of similar vintage was quoted by Anding as saying, in denial of his alleged senility: “That’s a lie! I’m not senile.What are the signs of senility? No. 1. Loss of memory. No.2. . . No. 2. . . No. 2. . No. 2 . . .”
And there was the man who, because of the recurrent shortages, got so fed up with having to line up for water, rice, sugar, every necessity, he got his bolo and proceeded to Malacañang where he was stopped at the gate by a presidential guard.
“What have you come here for?” the guard asked the bolo-waving man.
“I have come to kill the President!” said the man, throwing all caution to the wind.
“Then.” said the guard,”you will have to fall in line.”
The Marcos press headlined it as advocacy of assasination of the President by the Opposition.
Anding’s best is probably:
Farmers were constantly being pressed to attend regular barangay meetings where they were endlessly dosed with government propaganda.One farmer was conspicuous by his absence. The, one day, he showed up.When the barangay captain saw him, he said:
“Ah, there you are. At last! Do you know what you have been missing for not attending these meetings? Do you know what’s going on in our country? What’s what, who’s who?”
The farmer said nothing.
“Do you know who is the minister of tourism?” pressed the barangay captain.
“I don’t know,” confessed the farmer.
“You see, you don’t know. It is Aspiras. Do you know who is the minister of labor?
“I don’t know,” said the farmer humbly.
“That’s the price you pay for non-attendance. Ignorance! The minister of labor of our glorious republic is Blas Ople.
Now it was the turn of the farmer to ask questions. Just one, it turned out.
“Do you know who is Pedro Espadista?” he askedthe barangay captain.
“No,” said the barangay captain after searching his memory.
“I don’t know Pedro Espadista.”
“You see,” said the farmer triumphantly, “that’s what you get for attending these meetings all the time. You don’t know who he is. He is the man who has been sleeping with your wife.”
Last but not least, Arturo Tolentino, running-mate of the Great Dictator:
“Twenty years is already too long a period for anybody to be governing the country, and perhaps it is time for the President to retire.”
“I will not support Marcos . .”
“I will follow the rule of law and prosecute (the Marcos and Romualdez families) if there is evidence.”
“The election is unconstitutional!”
And have you heard this one about the American woman columnist and former high government official who distinguishes between totalitarianism and authoritarianism Marcos-style, chiding the American press for its anti-Marcos “bias,” arguing that the Marcos dictatorship is nicer than other dictatorships?
“I wonder if she has read the Amnesty International report on the widespread use of torture by the Philippine dictatorship. You know, burning the pubic hair of prisoners with cigarette lighter, water cure, forcing water down the throat of a prisoner under interrogation until he or she is almost ready to burst?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe, if she were given the same treatment by the Marcos military, she would sing a different tune.”
“What tune?”
“Singing in the rain.”
Technorati Tags: Marcos, Philippines, Philippines Free Press, Quezon, Quirino
To be a woman! editorial for February 3, 1986
To Be A Woman!
February 7, 1986–THERE has never been anything like it in Philippine history: a woman telling the machos of business and industry to do what she is doing, to stand up to the injustices against which they have been content merely to complain. That the economy is being ruined, has been ruined, from which they happily drew so much profit in the past; that the system under which they prospered is in dire danger of total collapse and eventual replacement by one that would have no place for them is evident to them. Free enterprise, that holy of holiest in their minds, is doomed by crony capitalism. And one with any sense of morality, of human right and dignity, can only recoil from government by, for, and of one man clearly determined to maintain his rule at whatever cost to the nation. But it took a woman to do what a man, or men, should have been doing: Fight! Being a man was sadly inadequate. One had to be something else. Be a woman — like her!
Like Cory.
Said a foreign observer as applause interrupted her speech at the Manila Intercontinental Hotel:
“You may not agree with her program but you can smell the honesty!” She doesn’t smell, as the regime she would replace does, but “smell the honesty!”
“It is like a religious experience,” said an otherwise cynical observer during another speech of hers, this time at the Manila Hotel before more than 2,000 — a speech preceded by a standing ovation, interrupted by 55 bursts of applause during its course, then ending with another ovation. “Jubilation and pride” filled the men and woman who were there and heard Cory give the regime, in the most forthright language: hello.
Support for her cause — the cause of the honest, decent and good, the long-suffering and patient, until now — comes not only comes from the well-heeled but also from the poor, the barely surviving. She asks for their votes and money pours out for her from those the regime feels compelled to bribe, cheat and coerce. Women and children form a cordon around the vehicle carrying her from the airport to Cebu City in an act of loving protectiveness against goons, uniformed or not, of the powers that be. A KBL poll, in spite of the inevitable adjustments of the results to favor the pollsters, showed Cory ahead: 65/35 for the widow of the man murdered in the custody of the Marcos military. At an American Embassy Christmas party, a general of the regime told embassy officials loudly enough for others to hear, that a recent survey by the military showed Cory leading Marcos by 2 million votes—up to then.
How could it be otherwise but humiliating for the dictator? What’s worse, the challenger is a woman. A cartoon in a Hong Kong paper shows him, in one panel, fuming over the predicament, the shame of it all, running against a woman, then, in the next panel, demanding who’s responsible for his having to run against Cory instead of Ninoy, then, quieting down, saying in a small voice: “Forget it.”
Not only humiliating but, if he loses, whether against a man or a woman, unacceptable! How could justice be allowed to prevail after so much injustice by the regime? Would life, in the pleasurable sense of the word, be possible for him? For him and his?
Worse still, the woman was calling him a coward!
“I am here in Mindanao in the midst of the violence and devastation that Mr. Marcos has wrought. And I am not afraid to be here. But Mr. Marcos is.
“I accuse Mr. Marcos of cowardice because he has not come to Mindanao in the past 10 years to see for himself the horrible effects of his greed, his brutality and his ignorance.
“I accuse Mr. Marcos of cowardice because he will not come to Mindanao to stand in the physical presence of the people he has hurt and betrayed.
“I accuse Mr. Marcos of cowardice because he will not stand before me and dare to hurl his charges in my face and let my answers be heard.
“I accuse Mr. Marcos of cowardice because he needed over 2,000 troops to kill one man — Ninoy Aquino. And he has the gall to say he fought off hordes of Japanese soldiers at Besang Pass. What a laugh.
“I accuse Mr. Marcos of cowardice because he whimpers about a little scratch in his hand and ignores the hole that his people blew out of the face of Jeremias de Jesus and the mangled bodies of the Opposition after the grenade attack he launched at them in Plaza Miranda.
“I accuse Mr. Marcos of trying to cover up his cowardice with a salad of military decorations none of which he ever earned in the field of honor.
“I challenge Mr. Marcos to stand up, like a woman and answer my charges of his cowardice with truth — if he dares.”
He could meet one charge of cowardice based on his non-appearance in Mindanao, by going there, of course. But then came the U.S. Army leak about his war record and medals. My God, what next?
The election should never have been called, in the first place. Now, what must he do to “win”? it No. 1 . . . . . No. 2 . . . . . Number 3 . . . . . But who would believe in such a victory? He had until 1987 before having to run for reelection if he would stay in power—if he lived that long. All he had to do was sit there in Malacañang and rule. Why put his presidency at risk? True, the Americans were demanding an election for a new mandate as the condition of continued military and financial aid, but he could have told them to go to hell. They were not content with an election, any kind of election, it had to be honest and free — and what if he lost? What dictatorship ever willingly submitted to one of that kind? Why risk what you have to gain what you already have? That’s plain stupid. What could the Americans do to him that would be worse than what would happen to him if he lost in the election? Let them do their worst!
But victory was not to be ruled out — even in an honest and free election. That is, if the leading Opposition contender, Doy Laurel, were to gain the nomination, and it seemed clear enough that he would, boasting as he did of a political organization the others could not claim to have. Laurel, it was the Malacañang consensus, would be no problem. Especially since his candidacy would not unite the Opposition, none of the other contenders showing any willingness to concede that Laurel was the better man, the better bet. Cory would be a problem, but she was not running. (Not then.) The British Broadcasting Corporation survey showed Marcos leading Doy by a comfortable margin. So, let there be an election. It might not even need to be rigged.
Then Cory ran. And united the Opposition. Oh, my God again!
So, now there is Cory, challenging absolute power, with its Central Bank, AFP, Commission on Election and almost exclusive access to radio and television and the crony press all working for it. But could the Commission on Elections be wholly trusted despite its membership of Marcos appointees? Why not, if it ran true to form? And NAMFREL had yet to be given accreditation as a poll watcher. Now NAMFREL is an accredited observer and counter of votes, but could NAMFREL prevent fraud in the final official count? And what if terrorism kept people from freely voting, or vote-buying plus terror kept them at home? How could the true, untrammeled will of the people prevail?
To be resigned to evil is to support it. Acceptance is consent. So, Cory runs. Against all odds. And who knows, she may prevail. She will — if the good and brave are with her. The Filipino people cannot be held captive too long by any power, native or foreign. But they can be if there is no will to resist power however great.
“There are no tyrants,” as Rizal said, “where there are no slaves.”
Slavery is the just desert of slaves.
The Philippines Free Press Online 