Dear Ninoy,
It is you I remember most
these days.
I do not mean to disturb your
peace. You already have passed from this
valley of tears to the House of the Father, but please, Ninoy, do not forget us
in our present travails as a nation. I
know that you love this country so much. You will not let us lose our hope.
Ninoy, embrace us and ask God
to embrace your God-loving people. Do
not look at the blessings we have squandered and the heroism we have ridiculed. Do not
look at the biased media and the people that they have misled. Do not look at the uncaring attitude of some
people about the victims of the Mendiola massacre, the Hacienda Luisita
massacre, and the SAF44 debacle.
Look at us in our fears and
pray for us to God to heal our land. Give us more courage. Give us more hope. Shake
us up from political stupidity.
Thirty-one years after EDSA
1986, I hear our people ask: What shall we celebrate? What is there to
celebrate? By the corner of EDSA and
Ortigas, I want to sit and weep as I remember the four glorious days of February 1986 now dimmed due to the failed
promises of the past administrations after Ferdinand Marcos'. The
songs of peace now drowned by the hypocritical and self-serving people that we
once trusted.
The bloodless revolt now stained by the blood of the victims under your
wife and your son's leadership, and these same victims have yet to find peace
and justice.
Four days of bloodless
revolution! Wow!
Now thirty-one years and the masquerading corrupt politicians still use
the EDSA People Power in the name of delusional "change” that they abused
for personal gain! From Marcos' cronies,
to Cory's Kamag-anak, Inc., and to PNoy's KKK - what a nightmare, Ninoy! It is a shame.
The dictator ousted by people power is now buried among heroes, which in
the first place would have never been possible IF Fidel V. Ramos did not allow his
family to set foot in our country again.
This was the same man anointed by your own wife, Cory, to be her
successor; the same man I voted, for the love of Cory.
The lady of 1,200-plus pairs of shoes is now a representative in
Congress, and her family still lives a comfortable life.
A former actor - president ousted for plunder continues to be in power.
Another former president known for corruption is back in Congress.
Any Filipino can run for the presidency even without any substantial experience. History books and historical memory are
mocked. Thanks to our inutile 1986
Constitution and to the traditional political alliances. Imagine, even you wife and your son ate their
shit and supposed personal convictions to join a plunderer for political
convenience! Thank God, Ninoy, you did
not live to see those days.
Tears flowed. Uncertainties
choked us. It was hard to choose silence and just take the blows. I thought,
"How long can we endure?" It was hard to fight for the right without
question or pause and be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause. You
remember that song, Ninoy? Singing it makes me smile and makes me cry.
Were you ever discouraged and
did you also question yourself if what you were doing was right? Were you ever
afraid or did you ever feel the urge to stay in your zone of comfort instead of
fighting the unbeatable foe?
My parents were loyal supporters of your family then, and I inherited
their love for them. However, even
though they were among those people who were present during People Power 1,
they got disillusioned with what had transpired over the years. Slowly, they lost their interest in watching
the annual celebrations which they dubbed as "pure entertainment
only". Nevertheless, for the love
of you Ninoy, we still supported Cory's preferences in every election that
followed, until 2007, for when we finally realized, "Enough is
enough". It was hard to turn a
blind eye. We could not stomach your
wife's political alliance with a plunderer, just to show disdain for the
administration at that time and to satisfy your son's political ambition. Just
because one is against a corrupt president doesn't give him moral ascendance. Ang isinuka, pwede rin pala nilang kainin
muli. Sobra na, tama na, itigil na ang
kahibangan na ito. Hindi sila mga
santo. Mga tao rin sila na may
kanya-kanyang interes. Pare-pareho lang
pala sila, Ninoy... Pare-pareho lang
sila.
Ninoy, the thirty years of fakery have taught us to break away from
political loyalty. Those people who have failed
us taught us how to cope more from disenchantment. They taught us how to be more
courageous. They taught us to be more humorous (oh, you should see the creative
memes now). They taught us to keep our faith that ONE DAY, WE, the FILIPINO people, WOULD BE ABLE TO BEAT THEM THROUGH A COLLECTIVE EFFORT AGAIN. They taught us to be more
discerning of the self-righteous authorities: may they be in the government or
in religious groups. They woke us up from political blindness to be passionate again
to fight for our country.
We were looking for you but
you are not here. We were waiting for your voice but we cannot hear. We wanted
to see you again but you seem so far away now.
In those years, we missed you.
Thirty years after, the TRAPOs have unknowingly created their own
monster. Thirty years after, we regained
hope and trust, for that monster is "someone who is willing to march into
hell for a heavenly cause". Sounds
familiar, Ninoy? The TRAPOs now fear that
monster.
Can we still celebrate EDSA people power? Maybe you'd say, "Yes,
because EDSA is for the people. The true
celebration of the EDSA People Power lies and depends in your hearts and not on
a grand celebration wherein you will only see a gathering of POLITICAL GARBAGE. That is not a celebration, but
pure POLITICAL and SOCIAL TOXIN."
As Loida Lewis put it, "Doesn't have to be true, just needs to look like it." Hence, DECEPTION.
For EDSA is not about a particular political color or a political clan
that most saintly men and women usually adore and continuously portray to be upright,
BUT about the faith and bravery of the enormous NAMELESS PEOPLE who called upon
the Lord in their distress and whose cry the Lord has heard from heaven. EDSA is our people’s cry and our God’s loving
reply.
In your final years, Ninoy, you were firm to remind us that THE FILIPINO IS WORTH DYING FOR. The EDSA
spirit is pure and worth celebrating always. It is the hypocritical and self-serving people
who have RAPED it, which is even worse than the supposed uncountable extra-judicial
killings of drug users and syndicates.
May we always remind ourselves that the people who prostituted the EDSA
democracy are the very same people who are now afraid to face their nightmare:
to be taken out of power. Never shall we
allow ourselves to be fooled again. Enough of those wolves in sheep's clothing. NEVER AGAIN.
Against all odds, Ninoy, we
will remember. We will give thanks. We will challenge ourselves to live for God
and to live for country as you did.
Rest now, Ninoy. You have left
us lessons to last us many lifetimes. All we must do is to keep on remembering
and to keep the fire aglow. You have passed on that torch to us and we will not
fail you, not like what your wife and
son did.
Promise!
In the Lord's House, please hug my mom for me, who was a staunch
believer in you.
Lovingly,
Choy
Matthew 7:1-2
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you
judge others, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
DISCLAIMER:
It's been almost a year since I
wrote here. I do not own the entire
entry. It was after reading Archbishop
Soc Villegas' letter to the late Cardinal Sin that I got inspired to "rewrite"
his letter, but this time, addressed to Ninoy.
You may find his original letter here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/874307/edsa-is-our-peoples-cry-and-gods-loving-reply#ixzz4ZYwPpwjr
