Pinoy Weekly
Today commemorates the day when we defied the impossible and ousted the dictator Marcos Sr. We celebrate Feb. 25, but we do not forget how Filipinos struggled for years leading up to that day, fighting an oppressor backed by billion dollar corporations and the United States of America.
EDSA Uno was one of our best days as a people. It miraculously ended the reign of Martial Law through collective action. Many types of folks played serendipitous parts—from the journalists supplying crucial information to the mothers handing out merienda to the growing crowd. It was as if someone up there was orchestrating us.
Maybe someone was. One of the things that sparks my imagination about the EDSA People Power is that the celestial seemed to be on our side. On Feb. 9, 1986, Halley’s Comet beamed across the sky. As a once in every 75 years event, the comet may have been a sign of what was to come. I can imagine rebels sneaking back home under the cover of night, trying to make it before curfew, their faces illuminated briefly by the comet. What’s more, as more people camped along EDSA on Feb. 22, the moon was waxing to full, bright and beautiful, urging more people to leave their homes in favor of hanging outside the rebel military Camp Crame.
I wonder if the moon played a part in our collective courage that February 1986. Could there be a proliferation of courage in the face of danger and uncertainty depending on the moon’s phase, just like how coral reefs release millions of spores every summer under the full moon? It doesn’t seem too far off, given that resistance movements seem to follow a rhythm, heightening every fifty years.
It could be coincidental, or not, a good omen or a forgettable premonition. Either way, the indignation had reached a boiling point in 1986. The stars had aligned because the people were already marching in line.
This year, the full moon falls on Feb. 24, and I am wondering about the state of our collective resistance. What are we feeling when, after 38 years, Marcos Jr. now sits in Malacañang, with not much having changed other than a few national holidays?
It could be coincidental, or not, a good omen or a forgettable premonition. Either way, the indignation had reached a boiling point in 1986. The stars had aligned because the people were already marching in line.
Much has been written about people power in the form of boycotts, protests, and strikes, in which we collectively say no and opt out of the system, forcing it to a halt. There is power in our rescinding of labor and money, which is what happened in 1986 during the nationwide boycott against Marcos-supporting companies. If we wanted to, we could march on EDSA again—EDSA Cuatro?—and demand Marcos Jr. to step down.
But maybe we are tired of saying no to politician after politician, tired of seeing one corrupt president replace another. Perhaps people power now and in our foreseeable future must gravitate around what we can create rather on top of what we destroy. A different sort of power waits in our collective choice to create. It is a more joyful one that harnesses all of our unique skills, viewing people as not just a sum of labor and money but a synergy of our collective imagination, values, and spirit.
When you look up at the full moon this Feb. 24, I hope you feel empowered and joyful, just as we were empowered and joyful the same day in 1986, when we were praying together and eating together. I hope you feel the kind of joy that is a sign of becoming greater than yourself and joining with the collective because besides linking arm to arm, we are still held by the same watersheds, walking on the same land which feeds us, under the same moon that guides our spirit.
