Lent has officially begun, and, as usual, many Filipinos and foreigners will be drawn to Pampanga where Passion plays are held including the horrifying crucifixion of some devotees. Elsewhere, people would be processing while whipping themselves until they are black and blue and bloodied all over. It turns out, however, that we, Filipinos, penitent or not, love flagellating ourselves, Lenten season or not. Yes, while others see the good in us, we choose to see the worst and dwell in misery. Take the case of the People Power Revolution in 1986. While the whole world celebrates such a successful, unique, and peaceful political exercise, many of us, through the years, have trafficked in lamenting its so-called “failures.” While other countries can only dream of going through such a historical accomplishment, many of us dismiss or minimize EDSA’s significant impact on our history. Rather than take pride in a once-in-a-lifetime and one-of-a-kind experience, we flagellate ourselves. No more. On the 40th anniversary of our People Power Revolution, we must celebrate EDSA, despite our doubts, our failures, our weaknesses. For as democracies around the globe today falter, we can draw strength from our country’s shining moment in the past and let it shed light on the directions we must take.
It is along these lines that the Jesuits in the Philippines reflected on the continuing importance of EDSA. Here is our statement.
“Faith Beyond Doubt: A Statement on EDSA’s 40th Anniversary
We, the Jesuit Commission on the Social Apostolate, celebrates with the whole nation the 40th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution. We echo the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ clarion call for the country on this important occasion. The Bishops summon us to “remember,” “repent,” and “respond with courage and love.” That is, we recall and celebrate the memories of those fateful and miraculous days when Filipinos courageously and peacefully fought for democracy and freedom. We repent for and own up to wasting the opportunity for real and inclusive progress and development that EDSA gave us. And we respond to or collectively work for the continuing and difficult challenge of nation-building.
It is no accident that our celebration begins and coincides with the First Sunday of Lent where Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert to face the evil one’s temptations. When recalling the People Power Revolution, we can also be tempted in many ways.
First, we can be tempted to doubt our memory of EDSA because of the disinformation and historical revisionism that have surrounded the event from the start. For the longest time, the anniversaries were marred by futile debates about the “real heroes” of EDSA, when it was called “People Power Revolution” because of the masses that thronged EDSA in 1986 and the civil society groups that fought the dictatorship long before its collapse in 1986. The cure to our doubts, as the Bishops tell us, is to remember and not forget, and to keep on telling the story especially to our youth.
Second, we can be tempted to doubt the gains of EDSA and belittle, if not trivialize, the impact it had in the life of the nation. We have heard it said again and again: it was not a real revolution for it only changed the political leadership and not the country’s socio-economic conditions. That it was only a Manila affair and not for the whole country. That it only involved the elite and not the working class. Amid these criticisms, the gains of EDSA cannot, however, be denied or dismissed. A more democratic and socially oriented Constitution was ratified. Democratic institutions like Congress, the Supreme Court, and the fourth estate of the Free Press were restored. Surely, these reforms did not only benefit Manila or the elite but the whole country and future generations of Filipinos.
Finally, we can be tempted to doubt our capacity for change and give in to despair and hopelessness. Like the Israelites who wandered in the desert for forty years, we can also feel that the past forty-years did not bring us the promised land of economic progress and real democracy. But nation-building is truly difficult. In the 90s, almost 80 percent of countries turned democratic in a sweeping global trend; now, it’s the other way around, with 80 percent turning autocratic. Even the so-called bastions of democracy in the West are also now falling apart. We are therefore not alone in this challenging project of democracy and nation-building. But we must persevere as a nation. The alternative to the wilderness, as Israel faced, is to go back to our Egypt of slavery and death.
We cannot give in to despair, for like in EDSA 1986, we have faith in the Filipino spirit. We believe that God remains with us. Just as how the Spirit led Christ into the desert and accompanied him into His mission, God also led us to EDSA. And God continues to journey with us as we build our country upon the continuing legacy and spirit of EDSA.”
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