(Random thoughts about Martial Law—Part 3)
February 23, 1986. Manila. This month we celebrate the 27th anniversary of the People Power Revolution, otherwise known as the Edsa Revolution of 1986.
Led by then National Defence Chief Juan Ponce Enrile and Philippine Army General Fidel Ramos, a bloodless revolution against the Filipino Dictator began.
I was holed up in my office in Makati, listening to June Keithly of Radio Bandido when I decided to step down the building and join the several millions of people lined up along the stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). Earlier that morning, I received an overseas call from our headquarters in San Francisco. My boss Charles W. Young asked me what was going on. Nonchalantly, I told him “business as usual.” It was really a white lie because out of the 16 staff supposed to be in the office, I only had two left and they both wanted to go home.
Thus, I decided to shut down operations and head home myself. But traffic leading to my house in BF Homes Parañaque was starting to build up. There was no way I could get through so I turned back, left my car in the bank and decided to walk, not towards home but towards EDSA to join the multitude of people supporting Ramos and Enrile.
I witnessed people trying to push tanks; nuns kneeling while clutching rosaries; women offering flowers to soldiers. My thoughts were far from what was really going on. I have a wife and four children to worry about. I planned on making a withdrawal but most ATMs were either empty or not in operation. Food inside the fridge wouldn’t last more than a week and the cupboard had limited supply.
The night before, I jokingly told my 4-yr-old daughter that we might have to eat her pet chicken that roamed our backyard. She cried and instead pointed to my goldfish in the aquarium. I also kept an eagle in my aviary. The bird might have to be sacrificed too.
It didn’t happen because on February 25, the revolution reached its peak and conclusion when Marcos, along with his family, friends and some supporters were taken by the US government and forced into exile in the state of Hawaii. Thus, the 20-year Marcos regime ended. A few days later, Corazon Aquino, the late mother of incumbent President Noynoy Aquino, took her oath as the new but first woman president of the Philippines. — Dino Crescini