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The
Official Print-Newsletter
of LOCOA
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People
Power II - A
Diary of 5 Days
Note : The following article is based on the
diaries of two women (Fides Bagasao and Roni) who were at the EDSA Shrine
rallies. One worked as a security marshal on the stage while the second was in
the food brigade in the command room the second floor of the shrine, next to the
stage.
First Night,
Tuesday, January 16th
I got home late
that night, and was so tired, I didn't have energy to see what was on TV but I
heard that Senator Nene Pimentel was resigning.
After a few
minutes of sleep, there were loud knocks on my door. It was my board mate, in a
state of panic and blurting out that Pimentel had resigned as Senate President.
We decided to turn on the TV and saw the outvoted senators crying.
On the other side of the hall saw the sister of Ninoy Aquino,
Tessie Aquino-Oreta dancing a jig ,happy at the result of the vote. There was
grief in my heart, like watching a beloved die in my arms or a cherished value
twisted in my lap.
My anger made me restless. Then I heard that
Cardinal Sin and Cory Aquino were calling people to go to EDSA.I packed my
things and that moment my heart knew, THIS IS IT, We will have a revolution, we
will have another People Power revolution.
Second Day:
Wednesday, January 17th
Little did I know that the
stage at the EDSA shrine, is where I would make my humble contribution to People
Power II.
My first assignment was to
find speakers from the crowd .The politicians turned me down, because they
wanted a bigger crowd. What the heck! This revolution is not of politicians; it
is the peoples! I decided to take speakers from the students, vendors, farmers,
mothers, elderly. This is their revolution, so they must be
heard!
I became stage marshal: I
cleared who entered the stage. Politicians forced their way to the stage and
our marshals were poked at with guns, strangled, and manhandled by their
bodyguards.
Third Day:
Thursday, January 18th
Understandably, during the
daytime the crowd at EDSA tended to be sparse. Still, the people never stopped
coming at all the hours of the day, Towards afternoon and at night, EDSA and
Ortigas would be filled with people chanting ERAP Resign.? Meanwhile, the format
of the program remained the same: vocal artists belted out popular songs,
followed by speeches by leaders of the students, farmers organizations, labor
,urban poor, Muslim and indigenous communities.
Fourth Day:
Friday, January 19th
The original plan was to
march to Mendiola this day. However, for security reasons, the march was
cancelled. Earlier, pro and anti-Erap groups had already
clashed.
At the GMA-Kamuning stations
near our office, hundreds of people also headed for EDSA. At the Ortigas
terminal where we got off, the crowd which was held up in a long queue and
chanting ERAP RESIGN.?It was still midday but already hundreds of thousands had
converged at the EDSA shrine.
That evening, the sight of
the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos packed on the flyovers, and the streets
below, the continuous rain of confetti, the fireworks lighting up the skies, the
passionate chanting, all the political, show business and military celebrities,
the resignation of top government officials including the Philippine National
Police Chief Panfilo Lacson, an avid Estrada loyalist, the playing of anti-Erap
music to the tune of the 60's songs, Wooly Bully?or some Latin American tune
made the crowd wild.
Inside the secretariat room,
for the fourth night, I assumed my work in the food brigade for the graveyard
shift, the 7-12 midnight shift. As on the past three nights, I would help in
receiving and distributing the food. I also swept the floor and tried to keep
the floor dry. The food never stopped coming. Bread, pizza, gallons of water,
coffee packs, sandwiches, packed meals. When asked to sign their names on a
list, the donors refused to have their names known.
Around 10 pm, we were given
instructions to set up the room for a press conference where Senator Roco
announced that if Erap didn't leave Malacanang by 12 midnight, the protesters
would march to Malacanang at six the next morning. Malacanang was the seat of
power at the head of Mendiola Street.
Fifth Day:
Saturday, January 20th
I tried to take a nap after
midnight ,anticipating the long march from EDSA to Mendiola.
Around three in the morning,
Jane, my office mate went out to search for a ladies room on the chapel grounds.
A mass was going on inside the chapel. I was touched to see many people, young
men and women, sprawled on the cold floors of the chapel, deep in slumber.
As we went further out into
the street to cross to Galleria Suites, we saw more crumpled bodies in the
shrubs and on the pavements. I thanked God, that this was no war, that these
bodies were not lifeless, but simply exhausted and only asleep. The march to
Malacanang took four hours and the atmosphere was truly unforgettable. Duster
clad women with babies in their arms, noisy children and men swarmed along with
the marchers and joined in the chanting. People came out with their own props
expressing their sentiments.
At noon, we reached Mendiola
and we heard that the new president of the republic was already being sworn in.
In an hour we heard on the radio that Joseph Ejercito Estrada had left
Malacanang with his family. I could not believe all these was happening.
I heard the broadcaster
mutter; Ang dating Pangulong Estrada (the former President Estrada ).These
words were sweet music to my ears. After two years of being insulted, mentally
wounded, by the presidency of Estrada, he was finally out of
Malacanang.
I felt like a prisoner being
freed again into the open air. I felt I was waking up from a really bad dream.
Yes, life could be beautiful again. Our future had begun. Mabuhay ang Pilipino!
Mabuhay ang bansang Pilipinas!!
( Long live the Filipinos! Long live the
Philippines! )
By
Fides Bagasao and
Ronico
fbagasao@hotmail.com
LOCOA :
Leaders and Organizers of Community Organization in Asia
28-B, Matino cor. Malumanay Street, Sikatuna
Village, Brgy
Malaya Quezon City, Philippines
Tel :
(632) 925-8432, 426-4119, 922-0988 Fax : (632) 426-4118
E-mail :
locoa2000@yahoo.com
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