Category: edsa

left out of EDSA

from carol pagaduan-araullo’s valentine column Remembering EDSA ‘People Power.’   leftist rhetoric that places the “organized progressive forces”  in EDSA in 1986 (an insignificant truth) and credits, or is it, blames, US intervention for the peaceful outcome (a significant untruth).

… EDSA “People Power” was a standoff between two armed camps, that of Ferdinand E. Marcos-Fabian C. Ver and Enrile-Ramos. The US and the anti-Marcos reactionaries as well as the organized progressive forces and the spontaneous masses occupied the gap between the two armed camps.

Violent confrontation between the two could have broken out at any moment so it is misleading to describe it as a “peaceful” phenomenon. Only US intervention and the growing numbers of people on the EDSA highway fronting Camp Crame prevented the Marcos-Ver camp from aggressively attacking the Enrile-Ramos camp.

medyo dated naman, and obscurantist rin, ang reading na ito of EDSA — as dated as the myth of a miracle peddled by cardinal sin, as obscurantist as the left’s refusal to acknowledge its mistake in refusing to support cory and boycotting the snap elections.

yes, america from the beginning warned both the enrile-RAM camp and the marcos-ver camp to desist from violent action, or else.  but marcos defied the americans, ordered marine commander tadiar’s tanks to ram through crowds on EDSA sunday and advance to attack the rebel soldiers in camps aguinaldo and crame, and again on EDSA monday morning when the marines managed to make it into camp aguinaldo (enrile had moved to crame when the people stopped the tanks) and marcos through the vers ordered colonel balbas to fire cannons and howitzers at camp crame across the highway.  both times, the marines defied marcos’s orders — throngs of civilians were all over the place, including their own families — and that was the end of marcos.  the americans, indeed, played a part in EDSA but only in giving marcos a way out of the palace, and that was already on day four, EDSA tuesday, the battle was over.

but what’s truly amazing is the blind spot of the left when it comes to cory and EDSA.  i guess because cory was so burgis and a hasyendera to boot?  they must have hated it when  EDSA practically fell on her lap, awarding her the presidency.  but it’s not as if it was a painless exercise for cory who had to rise above personal issues with enrile who was after all ninoy’s jailer for seven years and seven months.

Before the display of People Power in Ortigas, the idea of Cory meeting with Enrile in the dark of night to plot against the dictator was inconceivable. Not only did Cory and Ninoy suffer unspeakably in the hands (so to speak) of Enrile, Cory was also convinced that she could bring down Marcos (and Enrile) without violence—she did not need a military arm. Enrile, for his part, must have been loath to take orders from a woman who had no experience in running a government; and perhaps he was not convinced that Marcos could be brought down through non-violent actions alone.

But after the awesome display of People Power—when the people risked life and limb to protect Enrile in the name of Cory—the two could behave no less grandly by rising to the challenge and transcending personal interests. Cory rose above her resentment of the military, Enrile rose above his ambition to become president, and space was created where the two could face each other without rancor (if temporarily) and work out a mutually acceptable arrangement, join hands against a higher common cause.

People Power called for Cory and Enrile to reconcile their differences for the sake of the nation, and the two did, not by butting heads but through creative negotiation. No doubt Enrile came to the table with certain demands in exchange for his support. Such as, perhaps, an end to the boycott of crony businesses, and, it would seem, immunity from suit.

As for Ramos, who knows what he asked for. Cory’s anointment in the next presidential election may have been on his list.  [EDSA Uno: A Narrative and Analysis with Notes of Dos & Tres (2013) page 159]

quite funny too is how pagaduan-araullo’s rhetoric on EDSA is sounding like enrile’s who is still upset that EDSA is not celebrated on feb 22, the day of his defection with gringo’s army and fvr’s police forces that set off the four-day uprising.  here, pagaduan-araullo complains that the role of the organized left, the “progressive and revolutionary forces,” is being played down and airbrushed from historical accounts.

But “people power” was passed off as merely the massing-up of people spontaneously responding to the call of Cardinal Sin to support the Juan Ponce Enrile-Fidel V. Ramos mutinous forces. They had been galvanized by the experience of the fraud-ridden snap presidential elections that stole victory from Corazon C. Aquino.

The objective of the emphasis on the unorganized mass of people is to play down the role of people’s organizations that had initiated and sustained anti-dictatorship struggles throughout the dark years. The purpose, then and now, is to airbrush progressive and revolutionary forces from the historical account of the uprising itself.

well, not in my book, where i track what the left, right, and center were up to over the marcos years, the snap elections, the six-day crony boycott, and the four day uprising.   i even quoted from a 1992 joma interview [pages 215, 302], and of course authors like mark thompson.

Jose Maria Sison ~ The masses led by the Party were there!  In EDSA, when there was a call for the bravest spirits to take over Channel 4, 500 Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) members were there, and when I refer to BAYAN, I mean that the influence of the Party extends; I don’t mean that BAYAN is not an independent organization. But the myth that the Party obstructed or was a block, that’s not true. The most progressive  people, 500 of them from BAYAN, went over to seize Channel 4. [Kasarinlan. “Interview: Jose Maria Sison” by Kathleen Weekley. 1992. 74.]

Mark R. Thompson ~ BAYAN was caught off guard by the foiled coup, and, although some of its members joined the crowds that protected the military rebels, its role in the people-power insurrection was insignificant.  [Anti-Marcos Struggle. 1996. 157]

Jose Maria Sison ~ The highest concentration of progressive forces was at Malacañang. During the days of the downfall of Marcos, from February 22 to 25, probably 80% of the people in EDSA went there spontaneously, or came from the unorganized sector. … 20% of the people were, you might say, progressive, and most of that 20% came from the progressive mass organizations. Around Malacañang, the percentage was higher, even up to 90%. Kilusang Mayo Uno, KADENA, and the League of Filipino Students concentrated there.  [Kasarinlan. 74]

insignificant naman talaga ang presence ng “organized progressives” sa EDSA.  even if they had not shown up, the four-day uprising would have proceeded and ousted marcos without bloodshed anyway.  and while it is true that the struggles of the left during martial law deserve playing up (as it is played up by leftist pundits in mainstream and social media to this day), even more so does ninoy’s suffering and sacrifice.  imagine how much darker and uglier and dirtier the conjugal dictatorship might have played it if there had been no ninoy in jail who kept the protest alive in the hearts of many many filipinos, unorganized but totally opposed to marcos and martial rule, too, and surely our numbers were greater than the left.  naturally, the balance of power post-EDSA “overwhelmingly favored” the “unorganized” coryistas.

sa totoo lang, i would love to engage with an “organized progressive” who has read EDSA Uno the book.  i thought the left did a great job in mendiola.  EDSA monday pa lang, day three, nandoon na sila, freaking the marcoses out (so to speak).

Apparently brought by rumors that Marcos had fled the country, several hundred people gathered near Mendiola Bridge, only to find the usual dense row of barricades still in place, along with combat-ready Marines wearing white armbands.

There were at least 50 soldiers toting Armalites and grenade launchers; a sand-bagged emplacement on one side of the bridge behind the wire sprouted what looked like the muzzle of an M-60 machinegun, with a long belt of ammunition trailing onto the pavement.

Far from being daunted by the sight of arms and troops, the people started doing something which would have been unthinkable (and possibly fatal) just weeks ago: they started dismantling the barricade.

While the Marines watched, the iron horses (so long a famous symbol for frustrated demonstrators) were dragged towards waiting companions who started tearing them apart with rocks, small pliers and bare hands.

“A remembrance,” said one man as he displayed a strip of barbed wire he had twisted off. Strips were bent into circles and then decorated with yellow ribbons.

About four of the iron barriers were stripped bare before the Marines fired warning shots into the air (a student said later that someone had thrown a rock at them), sending people scampering down CM Recto Ave. [Alan C. Robles, “Mendiola Barricades Disappearing” The Manila Times. 25 February 86]

i gather “the people” referred to were leftists, i mean, organized progressives?  it would be nice to get some confirmation.  but here’s a gem from lino brocka, the activist and national artist.

Lino Brocka ~ Minsan pa, maniwala ka, nakatayong ganyan ang mga sundalo, nariyan naman ang puwersa ng BAYAN. Hintayan. Tense talaga. Biglang may tumawid sa tulay mula sa BAYAN side papunta sa mga sundalo. May dalang pagkain. Alam mo ba ang ginawa ng mga sundalo? Ibinaba ang mga baril nila at pumalakpak! Pagkatapos, kumain sila nang kumain. Diyos ko, sabi namin, tao rin pala sila. Gutom na gutom! Eh ayun, matapos nilang kumain, tinanganan uli ang mga baril nila!  [“Lino Brocka’s Election Drama” The Sunday Times Magazine. 16 March 86]

and then there was this, on the night of EDSA tuesday, an hour after the marcoses had escaped via US choppers.

10:15 P.M. • As the mob dismantled the barbed wire structures, the militants stood up, tightened their ranks, and dispersed. Why did they disperse? Why did they not lead or join the mob that “conquered” Malacañang? [Gus Mclat “Savoring a Glorious Moment in History” Sunday Magazine of Malaya. 23 Mar 86]

good question.  though i think it was quite a class act, haha.   and smart.  otherwise they would likely have been blamed for the unorganized looting of malacanang that ensued an hour or so later.

Ninotchka Rosca ~ Romeo Candazo of Selda (Prison Cell), the organization of former political prisoners, said: “ … you have to appreciate the dilemma of our people. They went to EDSA only to be confronted by the faces of those who tortured them. It was a heavy trip.” [Endgame: The  Fall of Marcos. 1987. 144]

yes, EDSA was a heavy trip for the left, but it’s been 30 years.  time to level up the discourse.

bongbong, walden, EDSA

sabi ni bongbong marcos, the people power rovolt was american-inspired.  ibig ba niyang sabihin na kung hindi sa america, hindi nagkaroon ng people power na nagpatalsik sa diktador na si ferdinand nuong pebrero 1986?

Marcos lamented how Philippine history books failed to show how the US “inspired” the bloodless revolt that led to his father’s downfall.

“It was American-inspired,” he said. “Dahil yung pagsimula ay galing sa Amerika eh, galing kay [former US President Jimmy] Carter, kung maaalala niyo. Tapos yung sa IMF, tapos yung lahat ng ginawa ng Amerikano para pahinain yung administrasyon ng aking ama.”

He said the assassination of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in August 1983 was only one of the many factors that triggered the uprising.

“Yung uprising na ganyan, ang Amerika may ginawa. Yun na nga, kagaya ng sabi ko, nag-start dun sa IMF na inipit-ipit ang ating mga pondo… Ako, nasa Palasyo ako nung panay ang message ni Ambassador [Stephen] Bosworth sa father ko na ganito, ganyan dapat gawin. Talagang involved sila. Ang sinasabi ko lang, involved sila.”

“Hindi naman isa lang bagay ang pangyayari. Kaya nangyari ang [1986 EDSA People Power Revolution], palagay ko maraming factors yan, at hindi natin masasabi. So ang sinasabi ko isang bagay diyan yung Amerikano, isang bagay diyan yung pagkapaslang kay Senator Aquino at siguro mga ibang bagay,” Marcos said.

ano daw?  that’s so convoluted and in-credible.  he’s saying that america, from the time of jimmy carter (democrat 1977-1981) to the time of ronald reagan (republican 1981-1989), conspired with the IMF to weaken the economy and bring the marcoses down?  carter was anti-marcos, yes, but it was mostly because of human rights violations.  otherwise, the marcos government had no problem borrowing billions of dollars from foreign banks, for development kuno, until 1983 when the shit hit the fan — not because ninoy was assassinated but because lumobo na ang foreign debt at walang pambayad kahit paiyakan — and the IMF had to step in.

When Marcos assumed presidency in 1966, the foreign debt of the Philippines stood below $1 billion. When he fled Malacañang in February 1986 during the first People Power, the country had a foreign debt of $28 billion…

…it was also Marcos who issued Presidential Decree (PD) 1177 or the Budget Reform Decree of 1977 that automatically appropriates for debt servicing regardless of how much is left of the country’s resources to fund basic social services.

…Between 1973 and 1982, the indebtedness of the Philippines grew by 27 percent per year. From 1976 to 1982, BSP data show that the foreign debt was swelling by an annual average of $2.8 billion. In 1982, due to automatic debt service, payments reached $3.5 billion, almost the same level of total foreign borrowing for that year and larger than the total foreign debt before Martial Law was declared.

The debt level became unmanageable, forcing the Marcos government to declare a moratorium on debt payments in 1983. The Philippines never recovered from its fiscal woes ever since, in spite of painful restructuring under the tutelage of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for the moratorium and additional funding.

bongbong should google “marcos foreign debt” for pages and pages of links to the details of the story.

and really?  america inspired people power?  how?  enrile is right, reagan troubleshooter philip habib was around the week before EDSA and when he left saturday noon he was certain something was about to break but he didn’t know what; neither he nor ambassador bosworth had the mind to imagine the possibility of a military defection being used by people power in cory’s name to oust marcos.  neither had any contact with the people, only with their so-called leaders — cory, enrile, marcos, maybe even cardinal sin, the generals, and the like — who all had no idea either what was coming, and who were certainly not in command, any of them, over the four days.

the people were.  in command.  it was the height of subversion.

after a week of civil disobedience,  boycotting the goods and services of of marcos- and crony-owned companies, from banks to manila bulletin, san miguel corporation and magnolia food products, rustans and the like, these people were in the throes of revolution.  if enrile and RAM had not defected, cory’s boycott movement would have gained steam as it spread to the visayas and mindanao.  eventually the cronies and other ruling oligarchs would have thrown up their hands in surrender.  marcos would have been compelled to resign to save the economy, and cory would have taken over anyway.  writ large as a nuanced sense of revenge that we pinoys exact sometimes, even on ourselves.

this is the same successful economic boycott that no one, but no one, ever speaks of or writes about — not the left, not the right, not civil society.  as though it never happened, as though no one knows about it, no one wants to remember, i guess.  because, really, it was even more subversive than the people gathering physically in large numbers in the same space to insist that marcos resign.  imagine.  we stopped buying san miguel beer and coke, we gave up manila bulletin, we snobbed places that served crony goods, it was exciting, and fun.  nakaka-high pala pag ang nakararami ay nagkakaisa in a common cause.  the power is awesome.  the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

finally, in the slew of opinion pieces and commentaries on the EDSA revolt in the run-up to the 30th anniv, i must say i take exception to walden bello’s campaign speech in los banos where he puts EDSA in such an ugly light .

Formally launching my campaign for the Senate at UP Los Banos, before an assembly of close to 1000 students, Feb 9, 2016. My message: “We are in the midst of a dual crisis: the crisis of the EDSA system of elite democracy and the crisis of the neoliberal economic paradigm that has brought us nothing but increased poverty and inequality and the plunder of the environment.”

“the EDSA system of elite democracy”?  it started with EDSA?  really?  for the first time, bello disappoints me.  alam naman nating pre-martial law pa ang elite democracy na yan, di ba.  it’s so leftist to ignore, if not snort at, the historic high points that were the six-day boycott and the four-day manifestation of people power in the story of marcos’s ouster.

it’s understandable naman.  after all, this is the same left that snootily boycotted the snap elections, thinking there was no way cory would win.  so it’s no surprise hearing/reading the leftists making EDSA maliit, and glorifying instead only the actions and sufferings of the left during the martial law period.  but i expected more from bello the senatorial candidate.

butz aquino, my EDSA hero (1939-2015)

 

i knew butz as the BFF of my brother-in-law nick since ateneo days (along with reli german), and i also knew him as a showbiz figure, an actor on stage and in film, and ran into him once in a while when i was writing scripts for june keithley’s sosyal tv talkshow back in 1981.  it was martial law, and he was special, too, for being the bunso brother of the amazing ninoy who spent seven years and seven months in jail, refusing to kowtow ever to the dictator marcos.

those early eighties must have been good times, sort of, for butz and the aquino family — ninoy was finally safe and free in boston, recovering from the heart attacks that forced marcos to let him go into exile in may 1980.  the lull before the storm.

we all know what happened in 1983 when ninoy came home to lead the opposition only to be slayed on the tarmac.  and we all saw how butz rose to the occasion by organizing and leading the august twenty-one movement (ATOM) whose sustained anti-marcos rallies over the next two and a half years enthralled (the yellow-pages confetti in makati always gave me goosebumps!) and emboldened the millions of filipinos who had wept for nation when ninoy died, and who became enamoured of the widow cory.  we all know how that led to the people power ouster of marcos in 1986.

it is good that butz is being remembered now, finally, for the historically critical role he played in EDSA.  in all early accounts of the four days, in the raves across the world, it was cardinal sin who was credited for making the first call over radio veritas that brought the people marching to EDSA in droves to shield the rebels from marcos’s wrath.  in fact, the cardinal only echoed, in two parts (10:40 pm and 12 midnight), butz aquino’s earlier call (10:20 pm), also over veritas.

cory was in cebu.  ATOM’s executive committee decided to await her instructions before making any kind of move.

But Butz was feeling contrary and audacious. Perhaps he was better informed than most, better acquainted with the personalities involved, just because he was Ninoy’s brother. And like the irrepressible Ninoy would have done, Butz seized the day.

Butz disagreed with the majority decision to wait and see rather than go all out in support of Ramos and Enrile. “This is our chance to split the military,” he said. He thought it was “out of character” for Ramos to be “included in a zarzuela to fool the people.” As for Enrile, Butz was willing to take a chance on him: “I don’t know him well but I am convinced that he had nothing to do with the assassination of Ninoy. When it comes to human rights violations, we can’t pinpoint anything on him directly. We also know he’s been powerless for the last several years. It’s General Ver who’s been calling the shots.”

On his own Butz decided to take the daring course of action. He called MP Palma and asked her, “Do you believe in these two guys?” And she said, “I think so. What are your plans?” Butz told her, “I’m going to Camp Aguinaldo and offer our support, whatever support we can give them.”

It was also around 10:00 when Butz got to Camp Aguinaldo and around 10:20 when he made the famous call for people to come to EDSA and shield the rebels from Marcos’s military might.

Butz sought out Enrile. He could feel the tension in the air. The soldiers on the stairway were sweating.  Enrile was “tense, perspiring, perhaps from the heat of his bulletproof vest.” At Butz’s offer of support, Enrile answered, “We need all the support we can get.”

Spying Jun Taña of Radio Veritas on the phone, Butz plugged in and made his call to the people: “I am here in Camp Aguinaldo. I have just spoken to Minister Enrile. He and his men are bracing themselves against an attack. We are here to try and prevent bloodshed. We are going to work for a peaceful solution. … I am calling on all concerned citizens, specially my friends in ATOM, BANDILA, and FSDM to meet me at Isetann in Cubao. There we will decide on the best course of action.”

Butz was on inspired mode that night when he dared advocate a peaceful solution to imminent war between Marcos’s split military. It seemed absurd and foolish, quixotic even, yet it was consistent with the non-violent spirit of Cory’s civil disobedience campaign.

Father Francisco Araneta groaned when he heard Butz Aquino sounding off his call for volunteers to join him in Cubao and from there to march off to support the soldiers at Crame and Aguinaldo. “There goes that fool,” he thought to himself.

ten minutes after butz’s call, marcos went on tv, live, and accused enrile, ramos, and the reformists of a coup aborted.  at 11:30 when that presscon ended, butz made a second call over veritas.

“We are here at Isetann and we will march to Crame and Aguinaldo. Minister Enrile and his men are ready to fight if they are attacked. If they are attacked, we will support them … we will surround the camps and protect them with our bodies. We will do this because Enrile and Ramos wish to follow the will of the people. Anyone who respects the will of the people deserves our help … I call on all our countrymen to join us and increase our number so that we can prevent a bloody confrontation … Only the brave should come!”

as it turned out, it was fortuitous that cory was away.  she had no sympathy for ninoy’s jailer enrile and might have preferred to call coryistas to luneta, there to pray and watch as enrile-led rebels and ver-led loyalists wiped each other out.

and then, again, who knows.   butz might have changed cory’s mind, the promise of non-violence (that ninoy, too, had advocated) may have appealed beyond the desire for revenge.   whatever, butz would have prevailed.  it was destiny.

gringo and joe al, birds of the same feather?

i must confess to some surprise that, like juan ponce enrile’s, joe almonte’s memoir (february 2015) has turned out to be contentious, at least re EDSA, given senator gringo honasan’s instant “it’s a lie!” plus a two-part retort in the inquirer co-authored by fellow-RAM originals felix turingan and rex robles.

i haven’t read almonte’s, not having received a free copy, i’m obviously not on the list, lol, so what else is new.

but i did read enrile’s (september 2012), spent a thousand six hundred something bucks, only because i needed to check out his EDSA story asap, in case he had said anything new, para ihabol sa EDSA Uno the book (2013) na patapos ko na noon.  at buti na lang, dahil tinira niya ako, at si eggie apostol, nang bonggang bongga, at nakasagot ako.  si eggie naman ay ipinagtanggol ni butch hernandez (direktor ng worldwide foundation for people power noon, ng eggie apostol foundation ngayon) sa inquirer, in a 3-part rejoinder.  read resetting the record straight #edsa and eggie apostol laughed #enrilememoir.

siyempre noong mag-react si gringo, binalikan ko ang chronology ko.  ano na nga ba ang sabi ni alfred w. mccoy, the historian, tungkol sa planong pag-atake ng RAM sa palasyo?

Enrile would proclaim himself head of a ruling junta, the National Reconciliation Council, just after rebel troops assaulted the Palace at 2:00 AM February 23, capturing or killing Marcos.

capturing OR killing.  and, just as i remembered, it was about ver that the desired outcome was unequivocal.

At 2:00 AM of the 23rd of February, Sunday, Col. Honasan and his commandos, guided by carefully prepared maps and rebels in the Palace guard, would break into the presidential bedrooms of Malacañang Palace to arrest Marcos and his First Lady, Imelda. Simultaneously, Col. Kapunan’s force would set off a series of massive explosions near the Malacañang armories, signalling three rebel battalions to move in with reinforcements. The first and largest explosion was intended to assassinate General Fabian Ver who would be sleeping inside his home in nearby Malacañang Park.

so yes, kung RAM ako, ma-o-offend din ako.  at magugulat din kay marites danguilan vitug, almonte’s co-author, just as nagulat ako noon kay nelson navarro na nag-edit ng enrile memoir, kasi puwede namang mag-fact-check.  credibility can’t hinge on just who is making kuwento, lalo na kung may edad na, kahit pa kabilib-bilib siya.   kapag pa-historically-significant ang drama, at hindi sensational lang, serious research naman sana, kahit pang-endnotes lang, para significant talaga.

na-interview ko si general joe almonte back in 1991 when FVR was interested in my yet-unpublished chronology to buttress his first-ever account of the four days for his ED SA ’92 campaign.  that’s how i got to interview then defense secretary ramos, first in camp aguinaldo, then in alabang along with his wife ming and three of the kids and some neighbors, then back to camp aguinaldo for interviews with almonte and sonny razon.  natapos ko, at ihinahanda na ni nonoy marcelo ang cover at artwork for an early 1992 launch, ngunit subalit datapwat hindi natuloy, biglang di na type ni FVR.  hinala ko, nagalboroto ang kampo ni enrile.  but that’s another story.

two things i learned from that almonte interview.  one, that the core group of RAM wasn’t all enrile boys, there were ramos boys too, and ramos knew all about the  aborted coup plot set for feb 23, 2:00 a.m. (not feb 22, 12 midnight).  but saturday afternoon, he didn’t rush to  camp aguinaldo to join enrile right away only because, well,  he was busy, dialogue-ing, flirting, with coryistas who wanted to know why he hadn’t resigned yet, like sis letty, from the marcos government.

two, that almonte  wasn’t daw surprised by people power.

Jose Almonte: One of my principal assignments with Vic Batac concerned people power. We reviewed the many social movements in various countries in various periods, in particular, Ghandi’s work and peoples’ experiences in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. At one point I told Tingting Cojuangco na ang strategy against the soldiers of Marcos is to climb the tanks, kiss the soldiers, give them flowers.  http://edsarevolution.com/ day1.htm

yes, ghandi.  even ninoy’s last message quoted ghandi on non-violence.  but in the almonte memoir, according to an inquirer editorial, Who owns EDSA, almonte cites his vietnam experience as the inspiration for people power.

He directly claims that his experience in Vietnam led to a no-casualty outcome in Edsa 1986. “The same principle eventually worked in People Power ’86, where we used it to ensure that there would be no casualties.” In fact, Edsa 1986 is best described as largely peaceful, because several died in the takeover of the government television station. And the animating spirit of active nonviolence behind People Power was definitely not learned from the Vietcong, but from the example of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

Above all, he revises history to claim that he knew exactly that People Power would be needed. “It was thus ideal for [Jaime] Cardinal Sin to immediately tell the people to converge where we were to show support.” But in fact the reason the people needed to support the breakaway military faction was because Marcos had found out about the plan, and arrested key participants. The RAM repaired first to Camp Aguinaldo and then to the much more defensible Camp Crame because it was making a last stand.

hay naku.  na kay cardinal sin pa rin.  how about credit where credit is due, like to butz aquino of the august twenty-one movement (ATOM) na unang nagtawag ng people to EDSA to shield the rebel military from marcos’s military might.  cardinal sin hemmed and hawed a while.  people were already marching by the time he got around to asking them, no ifs or buts, to support the rebels.  nothing immediate about it.  read EDSA Uno the book, pages 86, 88-89, 101.

as for gringo et al, i’m only glad they’re now talking about the coup plot that he and enrile denied all through the four days of EDSA and a long time after — enrile admitted to it only in 2000, honasan and kapunan only in 2011.  RAM should really write an EDSA book na, and do it better than enrile and almonte.