finally gave up trying to get photos of EDSA 86 first, though some did come in — thanks, people — but not nearly enough.
anyway, like katrina says, it’s the text that’s important, a pdf file would do. but joel, after reading my last post, surprised us with a cool website and a hot, as in, perfect! domain name, edsarevolution.com no less, that he had been saving pala for a moment such as this.
yes, a moment, a time, such as this, only two months away from presidential elections, with the aquino-villar race in a dead heat, neck and neck sa surveys, a statistical tie that could prove sustainable all the way to may, and the aquino camp threatening to do an EDSA if noynoy is cheated.
say ni de quiros sa facebook:
I believe it. If cheating happens again, Edsa will happen again.
seems to me what he’s really saying is: if noynoy loses, it means he was cheated, and EDSA will happen again. which is troubling.
if the race is this tight to the very end, the winner could win without cheating as long as he has the smarts and the logistics on may 10 to fetch rural voters, provide them with sample ballots, take them to polling centers, feed them and take them home, or give them pamasahe pauwi. that’s the way it was in my lola’s time and that’s the way it still is in many many rural areas across the country, so i’m told.
of course it would be a different matter if noynoy were able to race ahead, surveys-wise, in the next sixty days so that losing means there’s cheating, which would be truly unacceptable. then an EDSA scenario would indeed be called for. but hopefully, not an edsa dos because that would mean noynoy plotting with, and being forever beholden to, the military, as in arroyo’s case.
rather, hopefully an EDSA 86, and therefore not just a gathering of noynoy crowds sa shrine or wherever because that’s not all it will take to win the battle decisively. in ’86 it was cory’s and the people’s boycott campaign that figured significantly, i suspect, in enrile’s decision to break away from marcos; his fellow cronies must have urged him to act, to bolt, and stop the boycott somehow any how. day one of EDSA was day 7 of the boycott.
but EDSA is not the answer if the race is tight all the way to voting day. noong ’86 isa lang ang kalaban, si marcos. ngayong 2010 ang daming naglalaban-laban. it’s not black or white, it’s various shades of gray. also, what’s to prevent the contested winner from mounting his own edsa? paano na ‘yon? paramihan na lang ng tao? and what’s to prevent the obvious losers from joining the contested winner’s camp and all of them ganging up on noynoy? magulo ‘yon.
unfortunately noynoy does not have a franchise on EDSA. unfortunate, because a villar presidency scares me. he can’t be spending all that money out of the goodness of his heart, expecting nothing in exchange.
for now, misgivings and all, sisters and all, i’m beginning to think noynoy is the least “evil” and parang i’d rather live with him than with villar in the next six years. though i still wish he’d get more resolved and creative about hacienda luisita and agrarian reform, and i still wish he didn’t count so much on kris and boy abunda to bring in the votes.
wow, the site looks good. i’m gonna follow this blog lalo na ngayong eleksyon.
hey snow ;) exciting ang eleksyon, no? i’ve been voting since the 70s and it’s never been like this. with the aquino sisters saying they’re going for broke, they’re in this to win, and villar spending billions to bag the presidency, what a show! tipong walang magpapatalo, kahiyaan na!
wow, i like the website! i’ll definitely read ur book. can u find a publisher? i’d buy it! :)
hey gabbyd ;) it’s been published na, back in 1996, coffeetable type so kinda expensive, and wala nang mabili. available in libraries though.
Hey Angela,
This may be a “scare” scenario, but it’s possible and plausible. One side brings in his voters early enough so he can “hog” the precinct, knowing that there will be a queue. The other side then gets frozen out. Can Comelec make a snap decision to extend the voting times so the queues get absorbed? Anyway, just a thought.
omg, orlando ;) that’s scary too, yeah i heard that comelec is optimistic that everyone can be accommodated in time, pero talaga, nakakaduda, given all other glitches possible in first-time automation.
I don’t see Comelec’s optimism. It can’t compel people to come early or in an orderly way. They clustered the precincts so there are now many more “customers” than the BEI-teachers are used to. On top of the newness of the voting machines, the BEI have to do the usual process of checking-in, giving voters some privacy and time to choose, etc.
I’d bet that candidates will try to game the queue process to their advantage.
What is also possible is a three-way near-tie on May 1, 2010 — three percent or less separating NoyNoy, Villar, Gibo.
If Villar wins, it will be funny if the cousins do tag-team combination of resources to do EDSA, then Danding picks who is Prez and who is Bise.
@UPngrad ;) hmmm gibo in and erap out? well, i do keep expecting erap to bow out, in which case, a lot would depend on whom he endorses. but yeah, possible that the admin’s machinery could kick in for gibo, so a villar win (lalo na if erap endorses him) could find the cousins in the same boat. tag-team kind of EDSA would be fun, but why danding? votes pa rin sana ang basis, cos looks like mar’s got vice presidency in the bag. gibo would have to settle for a cabinet position ;))
ANGIE=:) as i see it, its still a neck-n-neck race between the front-runners but as they say in Sta. Ana horse racing, its a “banderang tapos” for the lead-pack with Mar Roxas pushing,pulling away and carrying Noynoy in the last leg to the end. An EDSA II scenario will be aborted as along as the generals of FVR like-Ermita-Esperon-Mendoza-Reyes-now Bangit are not challenged by equal force of patriotic generals or ex-generals for a showdown. I dont see the existence of such leadership in the echelons of military activism in the mold of Honasan. Uncle Sam may come to the rescue of Noynoy-Mar but that is still speculative given the internal economic problem in US that is a priority for a Democratic Party in power who are traditionally champion of human rights and people”s libertarian activism. I am still hoping for the best and that divine intervention will eventually control the political events that I pray will be favorable to those who want moral change.
I was away from the country from ’82 to ’95. A few things I’m not too clear about:
1. The plot to kill the Marcoses turned out to be true. Who ordered the killing, Gringo?
2. What was Enrile to RAM, did he have a role in the plot to kill Marcos? The RAM plot was busted and is that what forced Enrile to act? But why FVR too, was he in on it?
3. What was the connection of FVR to Enrile and RAM and the plot to kill Marcos that he decided to bolt when he did?
4, What was FVR’s beef with Marcos, was it the same as JPE’s and Ram’s?
5. I gather that the mutiny and Cory’s movement were independent of each other and did not share the same goals since Cory wanted a return to democracy and civilian supremacy while the RAM/JPE/FVR group wanted a military junta and never had any philosohical problems with martial rule. Was this the cause of tensions during Cory’s administration?