i Report Issue No. 3 2005 - Philippine Center for Investigative ...

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TWO AT EDSA ‘When the wheels of history turn, you hardly expect the world to turn upside down’ ED LINGAO DURING THE last Edsa anniversary celebrations, we thought of having a reporter find out what the younger generation knew of Edsa. Some excerpts: Question: What was Edsa ’86 about? Answer: …it was a massacre, right? Question: What was Edsa ’86 about? Answer: A strike? Question: When did the 1986 Edsa revolution occur? Answer: Sometime in 1989… Oh no, it was in 1990. The event that made a generation so proud to be Filipino, made us stand straighter when we heard the national anthem, that one event that defined us in the eyes of the world, may as well have been, for a different generation, another episode of “Wow Mali!”—except this was a lot funnier than anything Joey de Leon could cook up. It would have been hilarious had it not been so sad. What makes it so painful is the fact that these interviewees were not comedians or bums hanging out at the neighborhood sari-sari store. They were Metro Manila college students from private schools. These were the crème de la crème. One shudders at what the rest of the crop thinks. I was among those massed at Edsa in 1986, a dot among a couple million other Filipinos. I was still a junior at UP at the time, and I had come with a few of my college buddies. But we soon lost each other in the crowd and I found myself near some praying nuns. That’s when Times photographer Pete Reyes snapped that photo that would be the iconic image of that one hot Sunday afternoon in Ortigas when nothing mattered more than standing still. The expressions on the faces of the nuns froze a precious moment of terror and fright as the marines started the engines of their LVTs, those huge, boxlike amphibian tanks. Everyone sit, someone shouted, and everyone in front did. Some rushed forward to put their hands against the hot metal, only to feel how frighteningly solid and heavy eight tons of armor must be. The marines gunned their engines, and the exhaust pipes spewed black against the sky. Suddenly, the tank jerked forward, and the marine on top of the tank begged everyone to clear a path or be crushed under the tracks. People were screaming and crying. But the line stayed. The tank jerked forward again, and we shut our eyes and prayed that the driver had children of his own. And still the line stayed. Nineteen years later, the line was broken beyond repair. In fact the line had changed so many times that it was hard to recall who stood with you then. Post Edsa, Cory went one way, Enrile went the other; the Marcoses came back, not to be prosecuted, but to Ed Lingao (in dark glasses) faced the tanks in Edsa 1. Above photo shows him posing in front of a tank while covering the Iraq war. be icons of the new young (“Aiii, ang pogi- pogi ni Bongbong! [Ay, Bongbong is so handsome!]”) or fashion statements. Imelda was allowed to be herself, which was perhaps as good a punishment as any. No one, whether coup plotter or plunderer or human-rights abuser, was sent to jail. Those rounded up were the usual suspects—the activists, the strikers, the eternally discontent. It all sounds so trite, yet it all sounds so true. Colors changed so blindingly fast, and the rainbow coalition soon saw former street parliamentarians rubbing elbows with some of the biggest Marcos cronies. Ninoy’s Laban became the LDP, which was soon led by those who laughed in Ninoy’s face a decade before. Later, the parliamentarians would become the cronies, and the dictator’s cronies would act like persecuted activists. When the wheels of history turn, you hardly expect to see the world turn upside down. We were under no illusion that the revolution was over when Marcos left. But we never thought that people would forget EDSA. Sometimes it seems they never even heard of it at all. The author is a TV journalist who covered the Iraq war and the conflict in Mindanao. He is now head of news operations of ABC-5. 30 PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM I REPORT
T W O A T E D S A TWO AT EDSA ‘I was at Edsa out of pure disgust’ MYLENE LISING MY H U S B A N D Dino tried to dissuade me from holding it up. It was, after all, supposed to be a moment of triumph for all of us: Erap had been forced to step down, and now Gloria Arroyo was at the Edsa shrine, taking her oath as the 14 th president of the Republic. Everywhere one looked there was palpable jubilation. All my husband was asking was for me not to spoil the moment. But I really wanted her to read my message. If not right there—maybe she wouldn’t be able to see over all those heads and would be busier getting her oath right than scanning the swollen crowd for streamers—then maybe later, if my handmade poster attracted some person’s camera. Mylene Lising never attended rallies until she went to Edsa 2 to display this prescient placard. True enough, my poster caught Sid Balatan’s eye and was recorded for posterity. It was actually more a reminder than a threat. And it was really addressed to whoever would have taken the place of Erap. It just happened that it was Gloria who was there. All I wanted to say was, gone are the days when you can get away with murder. Well, now I’m not so sure about that. But I’m still certain that it is our responsibility to get involved. My poster was also a reminder to the rest of the citizenry that we cannot just keep saying our leaders should take care of us. We should do our part. To think that at the time of Edsa Dos I had started out so apathetic. I was 30, married, and an Ateneo graduate. Hindi uso sa Ateneo ang pakikibaka, we don’t just take to the streets. Edsa Dos was the very first time I ever did anything remotely resembling activism. During the 1986 EDSA revolt, I was still in the province. But I also wasn’t old enough then. I was about to graduate from high school, and my only concern was whether or not there would still be a senior prom. But on the night of January 16, 2001, we were watching television at my in-laws’. We saw the impeachment court vote down the opening of the second envelope. I’d been watching the impeachment from day one, although there was a time when I tuned out. But by then I’d heard enough, even Clarissa Ocampo’s testimony. The vote on the envelope made me really agitated. It only took an SMS from a friend for me and my husband to go out in our bedroom slippers to join people who had started a noise barrage along Katipunan Avenue. They were mostly Ateneans, by the way. Not too long after, we would all proceed to Edsa where people had started to gather. I was at Edsa out of pure disgust. I campaigned for Estrada in 1998. I can’t even call that hard work because the candidate was so popular. I campaigned for him because I had hope. Here was a guy who Filipinos felt—whether rightly or wrongly—was one of them. I harbored the hope that he would be able to inspire Filipinos to become better citizens and help us become the democracy that we want to be. But it soon became clear Estrada was failing my hope. At Edsa, I kept thinking, ‘I have every right to bitch.’ Four years later, I’m having déjà vu. I remember looking at Gloria while she was taking her oath, surrounded by her family. I’d kept thinking to myself how paper-perfect this new president was. She’s educated, she’s intelligent. But I knew that coming from a privileged background, she could very easily disengage from what’s going on around her. That’s also why I held up that poster. Now look what she has done. She should have kept the integrity of the Office of the President intact. It was her duty as president. But now, whether guilty or not, her credibility is shot and so is the credibility of other institutions around her. The scenarios all look bleak to me. I want to pack up and leave! That’s a feeling shared by a lot of people, but can you blame us? Sure, I still have hope. But I am also more cynical because I don’t trust any of our politicians. All this talk about changing the Constitution doesn’t reassure me. I agree there is a need to change the Constitution, but who will gain? I have my doubts about how it’s going be done considering JDV almost levitated clapping during Gloria’s SONA. I have never trusted the guy and I still don’t. The author is an interior decorator, entrepreneur, and former Senate staffer. PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM I REPORT 31
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Page 4 and 5: SHEILA S. CORONEL NO TWO presidents
Page 6 and 7: Tobacco, the country’s biggest ci
Page 8 and 9: THE TWO FACES OF GMA. Aides say tha
Page 10 and 11: likewise rebutted Zuce’s charges.
Page 12: T H E C A M P A I G N Presidential
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Page 17 and 18: C A M P A I G N F U N D S On March
Page 19 and 20: T H E V I C E P R E S I D E N T WHO
Page 22 and 23: HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN? In 1998,
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Page 26 and 27: LIGHTS, CAMERA, IMPEACHMENT! ALECKS
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Page 30 and 31: The Moro people can be part of a pl
Page 34 and 35: FOCUS ON FILIPINO YOUTH DEFYING THE
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Page 39 and 40: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N K
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