The flop of yellows’ EDSA plan

The first People Power showed how the Filipino people, when united, could send a strong message and take back the country for themselves. It presented that the Filipinos were the real boss and that their voices should be heard by those they chose to run the country. Three decades have passed and I believe that if they have been consistent in putting the needs of the Filipino people first and if they have not associated it with just one political color, maybe the spirit of EDSA would still be as strong as it was before.

The yellow politicians, together with their supporters, gathered last week at the People Power Monument to honor the 31st anniversary of the EDSA Revolution. However, they did more than just commemorate the anniversary of People Power, they tried to use the event to present President Duterte as the next Marcos. They were there to send a message that there is a threat to our democracy without any consideration to the fact that the President has protected and still protects their right to protest even if the rallies they organized are against Duterte.

It seems that the EDSA commemoration turned into an anti-Duterte protest. They can deny all they want, but with all the recent attacks against the President, the call for the presence of the people at the EDSA “commemoration” and the use of the Catholic church just like before, it also appears that they intended it to be more than just recalling the revolution 31 years ago. I, for one, believe that their intention was also to celebrate their return to power if they had succeeded. Their plan, of course, failed because they didn’t have the most important ingredient. They lacked something that was vital to the first EDSA revolution: The support of the Filipino people.

So where is the support of the Filipinos? Let’s look at crowd estimates provided by the Philippine National Police (PNP). As of 7:30 p.m. last Feb. 25, the number of people at the EDSA People Power Monument was at 1,300. Even if we were to use the estimate provided by the organizers, which was 9,000, there’s still a large difference to the number of people who showed support for President Duterte and his fight against illegal drugs, crime and corruption.

As of 7 p.m. last Feb. 25, PNP estimated that the number of people at Quirino Grandstand was at 200,000. There were also thousands of Filipinos from all around the world and all over Philippines who showed their support.

This clearly shows that the majority of Filipinos support the President and the battle to bring change to our country. These yellow politicians who claim to value the will and the voice of the people must respect what the people want and not prioritize what they want for themselves. They must understand that they are responsible for pushing people away because of years of failed promises, years of watching their fellow countrymen get corrupted by illegal drugs, years of seeing Filipinos fall prey to criminals, and years of corrupt politicians running our country. Those yellow politicians who were in power before seemed to have sat idly by while the Filipino people suffered from these problems.

To make it more simple, the message of the Filipino people to these yellow politicians is this: We don’t trust you, we don’t support you, and we will no longer be puppets that you can use for your own agenda and selfish ambitions; it is now the time for the Filipino people.

 The Filipino people do not have amnesia and are not blind. They can see clearly; they see what you’re really fighting for, and that is not the Filipinos nor our beloved country. If you just performed your duties when you were still in power, then maybe you would still have our support. But because you have shown what the color yellow really stands for, we now side with President Duterte who represents all colors and will really fight for a better future for the entire nation unlike you who just fought for a better future for yourselves.

Again, let me say that your time is done. It is now the time for the Filipino people and the time for a better Philippines.