Edsa, a political and moral dialysis

When the dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted, the world clapped incessantly, and the magnitude of the reverberation encompassed the planetary systems until the angels and saints in heaven joined the celebration and hailed Corazon Aquino’s assumption into the presidency.

The celebration meant to remove the waste left behind by the totalitarian Marcos and the conjugal dictatorship’s excessive extravagance; I construed it as political dialysis. Ironically, figuratively and literally Marcos had to continue his medical treatment in Hawaii. One wonders: Why didn’t someone donate a kidney for transplant?

No kidney was compatible from a million donors in the world—among his children or relatives, angels and saints? Even demons refused to donate?

While Marcos’ dialysis in Hawaii diffused and ultrafiltered water and toxic wastes in his blood, the Filipinos were also doing a cleansing process or catharsis as a nation. The magic of Cory was concentrating on socioeconomic-political reforms, gaining momentum until several scripted coups were staged by her pseudo-friends (like Fidel Ramos?) and real enemies (like Juan Ponce Enrile and Gringo Honasan).

The Left was left behind in the so-called reforms. Until now its advocates are considered “waste of Edsa I.” They were not removed in the purging process. Before Edsa’s glorious moments, the Left was about to take over, encircling the countrysides with its forces, winning the hearts and minds of the oppressed Filipinos in rural areas, mountains, seashores and cities. But the Edsa Revolt came along (which the Left claimed was “a script written and directed by United States”) at nawala sila sa kodakan.

Further, when Cory delivered her famous speech before the US Congress, the voice of the Left was left unheard amid the uninterrupted clapping of hands by the US legislators. However, Cory offered a general amnesty to all political prisoners, but some hardliners (like Joma Sison) refused to surrender. Some political pundits suspected that Joma’s exile was part of a Cory-US negotiation.

Now, the Left has already taken the center stage; it controls many departments of our present government and could dictate on President Duterte to declare a revolutionary or another form of government—which could be part of China’s covert operations in the raging “invisible war” in the Pacific between the United States and China, for geopolitical or geoeconomic dominance.

Moral compass or moral carcass? The Catholic Church’s key role in Edsa (led by Jaime Cardinal Sin) was equally significant in removing the excessive moral waste the Marcos regime generated.

The Church is considered the last bastion of morality, truth and justice. However, there were several instances when people in the Church were also involved in controversies. But these are small cracks that will not cause the collapse of a rock set up more than 2,000 years ago.

Does Edsa reflect the Filipinos’ compass of morality? After Edsa, we remember Cory’s “kamaganak syndrome,” Ramos’ “mother of all scams,” Erap’s midnight Cabinet meetings, Gloria Arroyo’s corruption-beyond-imagination administration and sinister appointment in “mapanglaw na gabi, and P-Noy’s “Yolanda” funds scandal; and lately the Duterte administration’s barbaric and demonic extrajudicial killings and the police Mafia operating from inside Camp Crame.

Let us be one in rekindling the hope of our people, to ignite the fire of light, specifically the “Light of the Lord.” We should partner with our government, Church, farmers, workers, fisherfolk, lumad or indigenous peoples, and landless urban poor or informal settlers to build genuine change.

Isidro C. Valencia is the managing editor of The Philippine Catholic Veritas.