[Rear View] EDSA, ideally. And the revolution’s biggest failure.

Ideally, an Aquino would not have even considered a local trial for a former despot who perverted the ideals of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. Yet 40 years after EDSA, a princeling of the revolution did just that, opting to be ambiguous rather than direct, waffling on an issue that cries out for moral clarity, flirting with the forces of autocracy and extrajudicial killings, and for what? Not for EDSA and all that it stood for. 

Here we are, 40 years after EDSA, and the political elite is again preoccupied with power games ahead of the 2028 presidential election. It’s being touted as a battle between good and evil, between dark and light, when it’s all gray and business-like, transactions over principles. 

At this year’s 40th EDSA commemoration, liberal progressives embraced the once-despised yellow to set them apart from the red and the green. But colors are irrelevant when the people demand food, jobs, and justice. The corrupt and the dynasts must be held accountable they say, but corruption became democratized in the aftermath of EDSA, a privilege once enjoyed by one family made available to competing political elites and power brokers. (WATCH: Rappler Recap: Two EDSA rallies, one ‘unfinished fight’ on 40th People Power anniversary)

Political dynasties grew in those 40 years, tolerated at first but later nurtured by a succession of regimes which relied on them for control and legitimacy. The lust for power has consumed the elite for the past 40 years, power acquired with the ritualistic declarations of abiding fealty to the legacy and ideals of EDSA and the people in whose name it was mounted. 

Ideally, 40 years would have been enough to raise millions out of poverty. Other Asian countries have done so in less time, 20 to 30 years. Today we occupy the bottom rung of Southeast Asian economies and poverty remains high. That is the revolution’s biggest failure.

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Ideally, public school students would be steeped in the lessons of EDSA, valuing democracy and the sacrifices of past generations. Sadly, the Revolution has also failed them. The failure to invest in education, the corruption and mismanagement, and the lack of well-paying jobs at home leave our youth with little choice but to aspire to be either overseas workers or TikTok celebrities. 

Forty years after EDSA, we have a generation that can barely read nor write, but can dance to “Opalite.”

Ideally, the 40th anniversary of EDSA would have been a joyous national celebration. Yet it is seen as a symbol of lost opportunities, but not for the political and economic elite and the well-connected. The event should have been commemorated without the drama of progressive forces arguing over colors and slogans, holding two separate events both poorly attended. The masses, on the other hand, are in factories, call centers, rice fields, in air-conditioned malls on what was once hallowed ground.  

Ideally, we would not have the son of the ousted dictator as president as we mark 40 years of this historic event. Yet now the dictator’s son is seen as our only protection against the ascent by succession of another Duterte, much like a creaky dam holding off a destructive wave. 

An alliance between progressives and the Marcos forces used to be unimaginable, but against a resurgent Duterte, it’s now in the realm of the possible. – Rappler.com

Joey Salgado is a former journalist, and a government and political communications practitioner. He served as spokesperson for former vice president Jejomar Binay.