By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
For a lot of youths like me, EDSA was something only seen through texts, pictures, and the grainy videos of a time long gone. It wasn’t till only recently when I read through a timeline done by Inquirer and a video made by Rappler was I able to gain a deeper understanding of the revolution. This level of knowledge of something so impactful can only be called shameful for a citizen of this nation.
For a long time, EDSA revolution was only a topic in one of our subjects. As per the usual style of many schools in this country, we had been taught more on memorization of the important dates, names of relevant peoples, and simply writing them down on the exams. All this with little to no discussion into the context of the matter, deeper understanding of the issue, and simply going through the motions. For some reason or another, such as the lack of time or simply the many topics that we had to go through in a short period of time, EDSA revolution and it’s lessons had failed to really stick into my head.
Perhaps one of the more surprising things I had learned from this vital piece of history is the fact that there were still those among the population who remained loyal to the dictator.
Fast forward to our present day and another Marcos sits inside Malacañang Palace. And as the years pass, those who were able to attend that fated day, who walked down EDSA dwindle down in numbers. Fewer stories will then be passed to the coming generation only for the gap to be filled with nonsense and agenda driven false legends.
One of the lessons that have stuck with me is the view that EDSA revolution is not yet done. Corruption remains rampant, poverty batters the population into submission, and those in power are never held accountable, only ever slapped in the wrist should they be caught in their wrongdoings.
The playing field has changed since the 1986 revolution. There is more distortion in history, fact is replaced by fiction to fit their desired narratives. And division prevents the masses from truly mobilizing as one.
There is a need to protect the real story and an attack towards a flawed system. There is an attempt to distort history day by day and the job is not done as far as changing our country is concerned. As the youth take up the mantle and continue the fight, the lessons learned from the previous attempts must be internalized and taken to both heart and mind. That the next revolution may come, it will finally destroy the structure that allow the suffering of the masses and a nation be reborn.
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