BEYOND EDSA

BY DATU ZAHIR MEDITAR

resist the controversial collection of funds intended for the coco levy fund. This peaceful protest to call out the government and to address land reform and rampant militarization turned bloody when soldiers, according to witnesses, killed two farmers and injured thousands on February 1, 1981.

Thinking of EDSA People Power as a bloodless event erases the sacrifices of martyrs and desaparecidos who offered their lives by standing up against fascism. As recorded by Amnesty International, 70,000 people were imprisoned and 34,000 were tortured during the term of Marcos Sr. Additionally, 3,240 people were killed from 1972 to 1981. And even when the Marcoses got kicked out from Malacañang, their cronies were still rampant all over the country.. Years after their exile, Imelda Marcos even tried to run for president. And now, three decades later, their children became president and senator. Which begs the question, is the EDSA People Power still relevant?

Realities On The Ground 37 Years Later

It is unfair to invalidate the collective effort of the masses that collectively toppled down the dictatorship during Martial Law. The narrowest target still is the semi-feudal and semi-colonial structure of the Philippines that did not change even when former President ica, and with the tremendous amount of debt that the Marcos regime gathered, the Filipino people are left to pay.

Even when Marcos was ousted, the Philippine government still hindered the legislation of the genuine land reform act which would give land to farmers. Our education system is also still commercialized which benefits Western countries and leaves many students deprived of basic education. This and other systemic issues of the country continue to plague the people.

The administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte imposed severe policies which took the lives of many Filipinos. His drug war brought extrajudicial killings to innocent people like Kian Delos Santos and Carl Arnaiz. The creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict also put the lives of progressives at risk because of their red-tagging sprees. The Bloody Sunday Massacre and the New Bataan 5 are recent examples of Duterte’s crimes.

Now that Bongbong Marcos is seated in Malacañang the fascism continues. The inhumane arrest of development workers Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dayoha in Cebu last January is a testament that the state is scared of those that oppose them. With all these struggles the people face, worsening inflation and increasing prices of goods and services, there is a clear need to resist the status quo and to struggle alongside the masses.

Just recently, the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON), one of the broadest transportation groups in the country, and Manibela, a coalition of public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and operators, organized a nationwide strike last March 6. It was originally set for a week until government officials in Malacañang met their leaders on Tuesday night, March 7, where they decided to end the strike on Wednesday.

This just means that the kind of opposition they made was a force to be reckoned with because of the impact of the nationwide strike they organized. PISTON leader Mody Floranda expressed that in their meeting with Malacañang, they were left with nothing but to study and review the contents of the Department of Transportation Department Order 2017-011 Omnibus Franchising Guidelines (OFG) and the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) until December 31, 2023. They also assured that drivers, operators, and commuters will be part of the entire process.

The strike was also felt in Los Banos. Jeepney drivers and multi-sectoral groups stood together to oppose the planned phaseout, summing up the impact it gave to the people.

In UP Los Banos, the strong and palpable student movement was showcased through the week-long FebFair, where different calls and advocacies were amplified. Through this free and accessible event, the calls were able to reach different kinds of audiences, many of whom probably heard these calls for the first time. Demonstrations and protests all over the country continue to call for the abolition of the mandatory ROTC that has been shown to perpetuate values and practices that do harm and showcase a false sense of patriotism.

Recently the Dumagat-Remontados, a broad group of indigenous peoples, together with progressives walked for 9 days from General Nakar, Quezon to Metro Manila as an act of protest against the controversial Kaliwa Dam. Although they were unfairly blocked by state forces in Mendiola, their message is clear: they will continue the fight against the dam at all costs.

At the end of the day, we are making history