Using Respected Color for Political Advancement
Give Me Back My EDSA (this is not meant for the buses)
By: Madre de Dios
I was six when Ninoy Aquino was assassinated. Even if I didn't quite understand what was going on, I remember the palpable sadness in my household. My folks gave me a black pin to wear to school.
I turned nine about a month before the EDSA Revolution, and I recall the joy of everyone around me. Before the '86 elections, I envied my classmates who carried yellow Laban pins to school…
Today I am the same age my mother was during EDSA 1, and I now have a son whose future I am thinking about as I write this.
With the passing of Cory and the arrival of Noynoy, black-rimmed glasses and yellow shirts are popular once more. Columnists like Conrado de Quiros have written that
2010 will mark "an EDSA masquerading as an election".
So why does it feel so wrong?
The more I've read and learned about EDSA 1, the more deeply respectful and awed I've become about the event…
The big change wasn't the ejection of a corrupt president. The big change was the return of democracy, of free expression, of civil rights.
In contrast, 2001 was entirely about a corrupt president…
And when Erap was run out of office, we saw a repeat of '86 -- the Evil Overlord vanquished and heading for the hills…
We all know how that turned out.
Today, the Yellow Franchise (and yes, like any universally-acknowledged symbol it is a franchise no different from golden arches, Michael Jordan, or the Batman) looks ready to steamroll the competition. I'm sure the opposing candidates are bewildered because they don't have convenient access to a symbol that's as powerful or as deeply-ingrained in the Filipino psyche.
But I'm not going to stand up and allow myself to be used. I don't believe that the miracle of EDSA should be used as a tool for individual political advancement.
I believe that EDSA was about the restoration of democracy (which we have), and that the spirit of EDSA is eternal vigilance against those who would curtail those freedoms we took back in 1986.
For a political group to trivialize EDSA for something as petty as winning an election is to spit on everyone who took part in 1986.
It's no better than opportunistic businessmen profiting from Cory shirts during her funeral march.
They're all milking a symbol.
And it makes me, who showed up in 2001, feel like a chump who got taken for a ride.
I recall an article saying that before her death, Cory apologized to Erap for her part in EDSA Dos. At the time, I thought:
"how could she apologize to this convicted plunderer?"
Now it makes me wonder if she'd caught on to something that I'm only discovering now.
Comment
Franz:
I totally agree with you. They are using Ninoy and Cory for election purposes. Noynoy does not have the track record to rival that of Gibo and others so he is using his parents. For all these years, as a congressman and senator, Noynoy has nothing but his last name, Kris, Boy Abunda, the Lopezes, ABS-CBN and all those artists.
The media especially ABS-CBN is biased in their reporting.
They are always featuring Noynoy and Mar.
The reporters and newscasters wear yellow shirts or ties. They are a bunch of unprofessionals, extortionists and fearmongers. They always talk about cheating in the elections and all that stuff.
Read full article at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=103173344186&topic=11328
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