Where has people power gone?

(This article was originally written in remembrance of President Cory’s birthday last month. The author revised some parts as the article is a fitting reflection for yesterday’s anniversary of the People Power Revolution.)

Going by the dwindling crowds during observances of the EDSA anniversary in the past couple of years, one would think that people power was gone … where are the cheering crowds, the dancing in the streets by the champions of democracy?”

Former President Corazon Aquino posed this question back in 2004. When we think about it, it was a painful question for her to even ask, given how our country had relied on the sacrifices made by her family to win back our freedom. What pain it must have felt if we were to equate dwindling numbers with desertion. But Cory Aquino knew better.

Long before the massive crowd had emptied, Cory already knew that the People Power Revolution must go beyond EDSA. She knew she must find a way to harness the spirit of people power to build our nation.

How did Cory regard people power? While most of us Filipinos were deluded into thinking that rallies were enough to create social change, Cory had learned that EDSA was just the political manifestation of a deeper ideology.

Somewhere along the way, Cory was able to fathom that people power is the heart and soul of the Philippine nation. Cory observed, “People power did not start in EDSA — it was harnessed in the grassroots where people are helping people create jobs and livelihood, deliver social services, bring about peace and order and improve lives. People power lives not in EDSA, but in the nation’s communities where NGOs and people’s organizations are helping one another help themselves.”

The Marcos dictatorship was not toppled by people revolt alone, but by the confluence of people’s movements, that is, of Filipinos standing up against injustice and extending a compassionate hand to those oppressed by the regime. Today, Pres. Benigno Aquino III admits the battle of EDSA is not yet over. Poverty still enslaves many Filipinos through unjust social structures. But the nation must continue to reflect on how people power is the only path that would bring about lasting change in our country.

And this is what the EDSA People Power Commission (EPPC) strives to do as its mission. It aspires to make the spirit of people power go viral. It works towards making that spirit of volunteerism, activism, and compassion become a nationwide movement. Indeed, People power is alive when volunteers raise funds to donate boats and plant mangroves in the community of Layag-layag in Zamboanga. There is people power when volunteers join hands with the local government and various non-government organizations in rebuilding earthquake-damaged Martilo Elementary School in Dumaguete. And people power is evident in Davao when volunteers are working to install a solar panel for the Matigsalug tribe. These are just three projects of the nine EPPC regional councils established all over the country to sustain a movement that calls for a more progressive and caring society that President Cory always dreamed about.

Many people challenge Cory Aquino’s claim to people power by maliciously stating that she wasn’t even present during the uprising. What they do not understand is that without her selfless and courageous stand against the Marcoses, the people would have never been inspired to demand for their freedom back. More importantly, after the euphoria of EDSA had faded, it was Cory who reflected on our history and grappled with what people power truly meant. While many of us went on our separate ways after 1986, she never wavered on her promise to empower her people with a democracy that would enable them to be responsible for the affairs of the motherland.

It is this unfaltering spirit that Filipinos must call to mind after our celebration yesterday of the 27th anniversary of People Power. More important than us trooping to EDSA is the embodiment of our pledges and commitments through volunteerism so as to empower the most marginalized of our countrymen. These acts may not be as resplendent as what happened in 1986, but they certainly have the potential to groundswell into a massive movement that would effect real meaningful change — something that EDSA ’86 alone could not have achieved.

Cory Aquino believed that if this country was ever to progress, it should not forget how it showed the world the true meaning of solidarity. The greatest tribute we could give her is if each one of us will be able to set ablaze the spirit of EDSA in every barrio and barangay of this People Power nation.