Ambeth, EDSA, America

Hmmm. Very interesting this reconstruction by Ambeth Ocampo of Day one 22 Feb 86 based daw on primary sources including declassified US state department documents of the period.

I take issue with 3 items, for the record:

1 That “Ramos and Enrile … moved from Camp Aguinaldo to Camp Crame” some hours after announcing their defection to the press. FACT: That night, only Ramos moved to Camp Crame which was his turf as PC chief. Enrile stayed in Aguinaldo until the next day; he moved to Crame Sunday afternoon 23 Feb and only because the tanks were coming; RAM finally agreed with Ramos that Crame would be easier to defend.

2 That “an estimated 20,000 people, many bringing food for the rebel soldiers, had heeded the call of Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin to lend their support by going to Edsa.” FACT: Butz Aquino’s call on Radio Veritas for people to join him in a march to EDSA and help prevent bloodshed came first, at 10:20 p.m. The Cardinal had to be convinced to make a similar call and he finally did so at 10:40 only to say that “Those of you who wish to help should do so.” At midnight when he spoke on Radio Veritas again and finally echoed Butz’s call for non-violent action, Butz and some 20 to 30k people were already marching to the EDSA camps from Isetann Cubao.

3 That “Cardinal Sin and Enrile called for nonviolent resolution…” FACT: Enrile was always saying that they would not fire the first shot, but nowhere in the newspaper accounts of those days or in the snap and not-snap EDSA books was he ever said to be calling for non-violence. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Eager to read what the next three days were like, according to Ambeth and the Americans.

“Congenital liar” ATBP #MartyrNOTMurderer

Sorry natagalan itong pangako kong next post na WHO’S “THE CONGENITAL LIAR”?  I had actually decided to wait until the film is released. Baka naman kako yan mismo ang pinapa-cut out ng Viva Films, yung sinabi ni Marcos nang face-to-face kay Ninoy na “congenital liar” siya, na isinalin into “Napakasinungaling mong tao!”

Ang knee-jerk response ko was, wow! nagsalita ang hindi sinungaling, sabay flash back, running through things Marcos had lied about over some 50 years, of which parang there are too many to mention so I decided ‘wag na lang, too much work tracking down documented sources that I don’t have time for right now. Besides it might be taken to mean I’m agreeing that Ninoy was a liar, too, which I’m not, not at all.

Right now, all I have time for is to note down, for the record, two specific items that Viva is reportedly wanting to cut out, and “congenital liar” is not one of them.

Adobo Chronicles’ star correspondent Jake D. caught up with the controversial director while he was dining at Mang Inasal. It turns out that the scene Viva Films wanted to cut was that of Ferdinand E. Marcos singing “Pamulinawen” to a tickled Imelda Marcos.

Yap told AC that he will not agree to censoring history and reality in any of his films. https://adobochronicles.com/2023/02/10/why-director-darryl-yap-almost-quit-martyr-or-murderer/

Natawa ako because, of course, we boomers are reminded of Dovie Beams and the audio tape that had a man who sounded very much like Marcos singing the same song to her at bedtime. Pero puwede naman na in happier days Marcos did also sing “Pamulinawen” to Imelda, as it is an Ilocano ditty of courtship and love. Puwede naman.

But this other one, Viva has a point. And here’s the director refusing to remove it:

I am about to give up.
If Viva insists on removing this sequence I’ve been fighting for 2 hours;
let them remove me as well.
don’t show it if it’s not included.
Tired. Motherfucker.
I just want to tell a story, there’s evidence,
may source, may basis!
I DON’T WANT A DIRECTOR’S CUT.
MARCH 1 must contain the ONLY CUT.
GOD!
#MoMNOCUTS
https://www.facebook.com/YouthAndPower2016/

And here he is saying why he is fighting the cut:

When I said, MARCOS did not kill AQUINO—
I meant it with certainty, I know it 100%
and if you symphatize with the former Senator, you will realize we are all entitled to know the whole truth; for his supporters’ peace, for the justice we all deserve to feel.
So who really did it?
#MARTYRorMURDERER HOLDS THE ANSWER.
https://www.facebook.com/YouthAndPower2016/

Grabe. He is 100 % sure that Marcos did not kill Ninoy. Ang sarap sana patulan. But for now the better part of valor is to wait, and see kung anong context. Kasi puwede naman talagang sabihin with 100 % certainty na Marcos did not kill Ninoy. I’m sure marami sa atin ang 100 % sure na hindi si Marcos mismo ang bumaril kay Ninoy on the 21st of August 1983. Pero malinaw ang 1984 Agrava Reports, Majority and Minority, that Ninoy was shot on the stairs by one of his military escorts, not on the tarmac by Galman, and that it was a military conspiracy on top of which was Ver who we all know was a Marcos stooge.  Certainly, 100 %, kay Marcos at kay Ver ang command responsibility.

What we might be seeing is a whole new genre, first with Maid in Malacañang, now with Martyr or Murderer:  creative-fiction-based-on-facts-taken-out-of-context, if that’s what it turns out to be.