Story of edsa revolution 1

Answer 1

EDSA 1: 'Magkakapatid Tayo!'

(Homily of His Excellency Most Reverend Ramon C. Arguelles, Archbishop of Lipa during the Mass for the 21 st Anniversary of EDSA1 at the EDSA Shrine on February 25, 2007 at 12 noon.)

It was Sunday, around 11 o'clock, the night of February 23, 1986. With another priest I was walking towards Ortigas Avenue, along EDSA, between the two military camps, on the Aguinaldo side. A large group of tough-looking men, coming from the opposite direction, shouting loud anti-Marcos slogans, saw us and cried out: "Padri, Muslim kami, kristiyano kayo, ngunit magkakapatid tayo, mga Pilipino!" The group had just come from Villa San Miguel to ask the Cardinal to bless their intent to assault Malacañang. Of course, the Cardinal dissuaded them by insisting on the futility and iniquity of violence, and charged them instead to go to EDSA and implore Allah with Christians already gathered there in prayer to plead God to preserve the country from ruin.

One excellent way of portraying EDSA1, which remained fixed and fresh all these twenty one years in my mind and heart, was that expression from the band of Muslim warriors: "Magkakapatid tayo, mga Pilipino!" My stories from Mindanao later, as military bishop, allowed me to listen to people recount with nostalgia the pleasant state prevailing in pre-Martial Law days. Christians and Muslims, they said, used to live side by side in remarkable serenity, neighborly helping one another. Martial law delivered that 'kapatiran' a terrible blow. But the "Four Days of Courage", as the title of the book on EDSA1 by a Canadian author puts it, as battle tested troops swiftly transported from Mindanao, faced with bafflement the harmless crowd in EDSA, those four days of courage demonstrated plainly that the return of peace and brotherhood once reigning among Muslims and Christians was not at all impossible.

Those four days indeed, and some time after, saw the world watch the Filipinos with amazement and admiration. Initially, people everywhere thought they were witnessing a so-called "unarmed revolution," a first in world history. Soon after, it became more evident that it was a fully armed spontaneous assembly. Sinister and divergent forces were set to take advantage of a highly probable outburst of violence to carry out their own veiled schemes. The most unexpected however happened: the guns remained still, the violence was averted, peace and brotherhood held sway. Miracles can indeed happen - February 1986 was one awe-inspiring miracle - but such cannot be indefinitely stretched.

EDSA1, which caught the attention earned the admiration of the whole planet earth, was the quintessence of brotherhood and non-violence. It was without doubt an unusual heavenly visit to our islands intended to give the entire world a timely lesson. What astonished even the godless or irreligious was how, first and foremost, Filipinos fused in prayerful solidarity, so remarkable when the affluent of places like Greenhills and Forbes shared bread with and provided drinks for the destitute of Libis and Tondo, when on a make shift on top of a jeepney, one future senator and cabinet secretary lifted a lowly cigarette and peanut vendor and yelled to the approving crowd: Mabuhay ang tunay naPilipino!" The spectacle in EDSA1 and the prevailing mood evoked the passage from Holy Writ that says: "If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness and the gloom shall become for you midday. Then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails" (Isaiah 58:11). For a fleeting moment this nation indeed saw light rise up in the darkness. How can one fail to be amazed at the sight of thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, doubtless more than a million people processing the Pilgrim Image of Our Lady of Fatima reciting endless rosaries while presenting flowers bewildered fierce-looking, fully armed Marcos soldiers, who nonchalantly bragged that in the combat zones of Southern Philippines, they killed foes as though they merely butcher pigs. Masses in various points, participated piously by the cross-shaped throng along EDSA and Boni Serrano Avenue, drew together in liturgical singing and prayer the multitude comprising Catholics, non-Catholics, even non-Christians, in reverent solidarity. What actually typified EDSA1 and accounted for the quieting down of dreaded instrument of carnage is undeniably that it was an intervention from above answering the collective and humble pleas of the devoted crowd.

What went wrong then? What happened to this blessed country that some are compelled to affirm: "the spirit of EDSA is fading" or "the spirit of EDSA is dead"? Some observe that most young people do not really know what actually happened in EDSA1. Or that they care very little because EDSA for them has no relevance at all. In 1986, too, young people were dazed at was going on. They knew no leader other than the late dictator. They could not imagine there could ever be any other. The age group succeeding them, twenty one years after, is also perplexed, but this time by the issue of scores of leaders at variance, having only one thing in common, and that is, they are blown up facsimiles of the one EDSA1 toppled.

Some bemoan the thinning of the mass attending EDSA1's annual celebration. They probably dread more the thinning of the number of believers in the deep significance of EDSA. The question is raised whether the commemoration of EDSA1 has yet any sense. Or has the spirit of EDSA1 died; has it been buried with probably God's principal promoter in making EDSA part of Philippine history and the history of mankind, the most revered and cherished Jaime Cardinal Sin? How many still remembers the serene voice from a tiny, almost insignificant country in the Pacific realm, that resounded in the entire planet, signaling the victorious quest for freedom? The voice, that in many unmistakable ways has given the Philippines a more prominent place in the world's saga? Unfortunately, there are always some who would wish that a new Cardinal Sin will rise. Cardinal Sin was no doubt the right person for the right time called by God for a specific purpose. Any attempt to clone him will miserably fail and will only dilute the matchless significance of a remarkable man, besmirch his memory and deprive him of his honored place in history. Regrettablythere are even direct or indirect, conscious of unconscious efforts to show that the late cardinal was wrong all along.

While the collective prayer of countless people silenced the guns in 1986, almost immediately thereafter, until the present moment, violence once mire holds sway. People are upset by the eager call to return to arms, when this country was deemed to be the one to attest to the whole world that the sure way to a better future is the road to peace, the road that realizes the biblical announcement: "They shall beat the swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles; one nation shall not raise the sword against another. Nor longer shall they train for war again." (Isaiah 2:4). Instead the resumption of hostilities rendered the EDSA cry of Muslim brothers a distant, if not a shattered dream: "Padri, Muslim kami, Kristiyano kayo, ngunit magkakapatid tayo, mga Pilipino!" the weapons of hatred have disturbingly dotted all our islands. EDSA1 gave our people and so many others in the world a sense of hope. Now the hope of our country, the hope likewise of other peoples, liberated by following the example set by EDSA1, that hope seems to vanish. Has EDSA1 really become a severe disappointment for the Philippines and for the rest of the world?

Among the reasons behind the apparent collapse of the EDSA hope can be the following

• Early after February 1986, a move to identify the EDSA heroes started. So many declared themselves EDSA heroes, even those who were never among the millions physically present during the four days of courage. A protracted debate on the real heroes resulted. Everyone tries to grab credit for himself. The most powerful nation in contemporary world, which obviously opposed EDSA1, or did not believe in its spirit, which until now water down its significance, also claims to be the author of EDSA. Happily there are discerning people who would remind everyone that God was the real hero.In those difficult days many felt the verse in Holy Writ taking place in real life: "God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid people, like the wheel-chaired lady raising singly the rosary before the big tank, were ready to die for the country because they believed that God, our savior led them in the fearless struggle to save our nation destruction. The satanic powers of that time hoped to make the Philippines the next display area to display area to test the newly invented, more sophisticated was machines. Heaven intervened and preserved this praying nation. God indeed must be recognized as the only hero. This country was destined to announce to the world that it is only God who truly saves. No one, nothing else is worth trusting.
• There were indeed outstanding personalities whom the nation will always feel grateful to. Some used to be part of the dreaded regime and at the precise moment sided with the people. They revealed the deceptions of the past and helped the nation to search for the truth that liberates. But the atmosphere of conversion to God and genuine solicitude to the nation easily slid back into selfishness; the pursuit of self-interest prevailed, true welfare of the people was set aside, instant heroes turned perpetual traitors. Many returned to what they were all the while before imminent death and Divine judgment confronted them.

• EDSA1 was a wonderful occasion to flesh to the words of the Psalm that say: "Some trust in chariots; others, in horses; but we trust in the name of the Lord, our God" (Psalm 20:8). EDSA1 was an experience of utter helplessness. People turned to and trusted only in God. "The Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, our toil and our oppression" (Deuteronomy 26:7). EDSA1 was clearly God's manner of showing his mercy on people. The seeming EDSA1 collapse is due also to the nation's return to trusting the weapons of war as well as the prevalent belief that the nation's future depends on foreign investments, on financial advancements. These are the chariots and horses of contemporary times to which secular people attribute personal and collective salvation.

• For a brief moment EDSA1 appeared as the realization of the content of the Magnificat: "(God) has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones, but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty": (Luke 1:51-53). For an instant indeed, EDSA1 illustrated how the lowly and downtrodden were lifted up and the hungry filled with good things. Such are the true manifestations of the Kingdom of God. Sadly, the observable symptom that show the spirit of EDSA1 gradually discarded is that the downtrodden have become more miserable twenty one years after EDSA1. Farm and fisher folks are being displaced from the place of their livelihood and their original habitat, all in the name of progress. The attempt to bring the nation better future by giving the poor the capacity to rise from destitution gave way to the profit hungry few who deprive the poor farmers of the last fertile ground their till and the poor fishermen the rich sea where they fish. To earn money purportedly for the country, the post EDSA leaders, ex-heroes turned traitors, have opened Philippine shores to foreign perverts sacrificing the dignity and decency of Filipino womanhood, allowing the sexual assaults on children, and branding the abode and quarters of the rural and urban poor touristic eyesores that need to be wiped out. The government protected materially rich not only close their eyes to the plight of the poor. They want to eliminate poverty by eradicating the poor. The hungry become more numerous as the well-fed continue to feast at the expense of those who have nothing to eat. This land endowed by God with exquisite natural beauty and Natural Resources is being offered for the exploitation of the foreigners, leaving the local inhabitants poorer than ever. Post EDSA times have not benefited the majority still looking for total freedom. The poor exalted in EDSA1 as the true Filipino has been marginalized more than ever. Treachery to the true ideals had only reduced this nation in all aspects into a situation that brought about the Martial Law regime.

There are countless other factors indicating that EDSA1 was a total disappointment. It is not that EDSA has failed. Many people, including those who arrogantly claim to be the framers of EDSA, ignoring especially the heavenly part that made EDSA what it is, these have failed EDSA. They have even prostituted EDSA.

EDSA has never died. It has only been allowed to bloom in the proper way. The EDSA that only God can claim as the source has been snatched by the wrong hands. Just like what the devil insinuated in today's Gospel, he claims to possess what belongs to God, namely, the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory. That is why at the end of the Lord's Prayer is said, "For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are Yours now and forever!" EDSA is for God and anything that belongs to God can never experience total collapse. The cry should be: Bring back God to EDSA! Bring EDSA back to God! It can also be said: "Away with the false gods of EDSA. They are anti-God, they are anti-EDSA, they are anti-Filipino.

How can EDSA then be remembered in a way that its spirit will continue to inspire the people and lead all to more hopeful future?

1. The spirit of EDSA 1 MUST NOT BE CONFINED TO A SINGLE STREET IN Metro Manila, a street that all Filipinos and all humanity will probably never see. The dream to draw great crowds occasionally does not do justice to the EDSA spirit. Again the majority of the Filipino people has never been and will never be able to be in EDSA physically. But the Spirit of EDSA that must spread to all the corners of the country and even of the whole word. EDSA must no be reduced to a mere annual celebration and dramatic reenactment. The spirit of EDS 1 must be lived at all times, in all places in the entire archipelago and beyond. It is a spirit of love, sharing and solidarity. EDSA has not failed. It must not be allowed to fade. God will not allow EDSA's true spirit to fail. It is penetrating slowly and must penetrate slowly the lives of our Filipinos and all men and women in the world.
2. EDSA 1 must be first and foremost seen as a Divine experience. God must be acknowledged as the origin, purpose and center of the EDSA phenomenon. An EDSA without God and the Blessed Mother is a caricature. True EDSA is and should always be a prayerful event. But true prayer! Not politicized prayer.
3. EDSA can never be called by politicians, nor military, not even any individual or group. It is not planned. It is clearly a divine surprise, and certainly never a human manipulation and earthly fabrication.
4. True EDSA is giving importance and preference to the weak and the poor. They are the true participants. They many never by the exploited ones. EDSA opposes in fact any exploitation of the poor and the destitute. EDSA is instead their liberation. An EDSA that is intended for the rich and powerful and sustained by them, and used for their purposes is a prostitution of the true spirit of EDSA. It is an offense against God, who is truly the great Benefactor of this event.

EDS being the work of God cannot fail. There are many evil forces that try to deliver a fatal blow to EDSA. God cannot be defeated. God's work can never fail It is people who fail God. Men and women fail to breathe the true spirit of EDSA, usually because of selfishness and self-love.

All can and must be promoters of God-given EDSA spirit which should benefit all, particularly the poor, establish a society of true love that the Philippines demonstrated 21 years ago. AT that time, true EDSA took place because the people prayerfully listened to God's word through the prophet. "You have already been told what is good, and what Yahweh wants of you; only this, to do what is right and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8).

Today it is the 21 st anniversary of EDSA. It is also the 21 st National Migrants Sunday. The Spirit of EDSA is very much alive. It is observed in the sacrifices and the humility of Filipinos overseas. The Filipinos overseas are treated by all regimes since EDSA 1 as an exploited sector. They are no different from the regime EDSA 1 unseated and which betrayed it. They look at the OFWs in terms of dollars, money and remittances, that present corrupt leaders nevertheless misuse at the expense of Filipino tears, perspiration and blood.

To those who retain the true EDSA spirit, the OFWs are the bearers of the Divine message which is EDSA to the whole world. Was EDSA 1 not proclaimed rightly by the song, "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo?" The exploiters of fellow Filipinos never sing that song. Indeed the OFWs are the agents of EDSA to the rest of the world.

Those in the Philippines who believe with Ninoy that the Filipino is worth dying for, all who believe with Cardinal Sin that this nation is worth living and praying for and that this country has been especially chosen by God, all who are willing to establish a country and a world in solidarity, all these can say with great confidence: EDSA 1 has not failed. God does not give up. God's people in humility and true love will never be disheartened. What EDSA is is God's gift, not only to the Filipinos, but to the world. Everyplace in the whole archipelago, even all over the world, should be able to hear the confident shout, " Magkakapatid tayo!" That sentence is EDSA.