The document discusses similarities between the political situation in the Philippines today and during the Marcos regime and martial law period in the 1970s-1980s. It notes rising authoritarianism, corruption, and the killings of dissidents under President Duterte that parallel what occurred under Marcos. The document also summarizes the key events of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos, sparked by growing opposition to his authoritarian rule and human rights abuses. It argues history may be repeating as the same formulas of dictatorship are being used today, though by a different leader, and that another people power revolution could occur.
The document discusses similarities between the political situation in the Philippines today and during the Marcos regime and martial law period in the 1970s-1980s. It notes rising authoritarianism, corruption, and the killings of dissidents under President Duterte that parallel what occurred under Marcos. The document also summarizes the key events of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos, sparked by growing opposition to his authoritarian rule and human rights abuses. It argues history may be repeating as the same formulas of dictatorship are being used today, though by a different leader, and that another people power revolution could occur.
The document discusses similarities between the political situation in the Philippines today and during the Marcos regime and martial law period in the 1970s-1980s. It notes rising authoritarianism, corruption, and the killings of dissidents under President Duterte that parallel what occurred under Marcos. The document also summarizes the key events of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos, sparked by growing opposition to his authoritarian rule and human rights abuses. It argues history may be repeating as the same formulas of dictatorship are being used today, though by a different leader, and that another people power revolution could occur.
The document discusses similarities between the political situation in the Philippines today and during the Marcos regime and martial law period in the 1970s-1980s. It notes rising authoritarianism, corruption, and the killings of dissidents under President Duterte that parallel what occurred under Marcos. The document also summarizes the key events of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos, sparked by growing opposition to his authoritarian rule and human rights abuses. It argues history may be repeating as the same formulas of dictatorship are being used today, though by a different leader, and that another people power revolution could occur.
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1/ 6
Nohay, Irish Jan M.
2SSM
EDSA I-----II?
In today’s time we are experiencing a same path in the past. The killings, the unjust system of the government, the wide distance of the upper and lower class, and a rise of a strongman. Seems like it is so familiar in what happened in the 21 st of September in 1972 when the martial law is implemented.
In 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution is a series of peaceful protest and demonstration, arise as they are all fed up of the government. In the context of social groups the former President Ferdinand Marcos is an Authoritarian Leader and a dictator to the Filipinos in that time. In the contrary the Filipinos saw hope to the former President Cory Aquino as a Symbol of democracy to them, she stand being a democratic leader to them. There is also a primary groups in the administration of Marcos. The Marcos family and their cronies are the primary groups in that time the plundered money from the Filipino people which they had been benefited to. As what I’ve seen in the documentary “Kingmaker” of Lauren Greenfield the stolen money was spent on luxurious items, estate, artworks, exotic animals, and etc by Imelda Marcos.
In 1977 Marcos issued the Presidential Decree 1177 mandating the automatic appropriation for debt service, thus starting the process that continues to this day of prioritizing debt repayments before budget allocations for social and economic services and other government expenditures (Tadem, 2018). This is an example of a social process and interaction of exchange which asking for help in exchange of cutting the government budget because in his regime he couldn’t pay, and the GDP of the Philippines goes down, and the Philippines in that time is dependent on foreign aid. Competition in the presidency arise in the snap election of 1986 between Ferdinand Marcos and Cory Aquino. Massive poll fraud and rampant cheating marred the vote, with the Batasang Pambansa proclaiming Marcos the winner.
Another Social Process is conflict in the video documentary “Kingmaker” an activist shared her experience in the awful treatment of the constabulary to her, touching the private parts of her body and harassing her. Another statement is given by a male activist that there is so called a punishment named “san juanico bridge” where his head is on the edge of 1 bed and his feet to another bed. Cases of murder, abduction, salvage is prominent in the time of martial law. the constabulary is not the real enemy, it was the one leading them in doing it. An account says that they are just following orders “trabaho lang walang personalan”. Brute force from the government were used to disperse activist who are voicing out there concerns for the betterment of the country. There is also conflict between the government and the truth, it is important for a democratic country is the circulation of information and the transparency of the government to its people. Media in a form of newspapers, television, and radio played a vital role to make the people well informed but in the implementation of Martial law media blackouts and media takeovers happened in that time. On September 28, 1972, Marcos issued Letter of Instruction No. 1, authorizing the military to take over the assets of major media outlets including the ABS-CBN network, Channel 5, and various radio stations across the country. This was within the first week of his declaration of Martial Law. Marcos shut down competing voices and taking control over the media, Marcos also silenced public criticism and controlled the information going out. The emergence of bomba films also change the view of the Filipinos from being political to a person who objectify women’s value and to divert the attention of the mass male Filipino people in being political.
The EDSA People Power Revolution or so called the bloodless revolution started when “The revolt commenced when Marcos' Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and the Armed Forces Vice-Chief of Staff command of Fidel V. Ramos, both withdrew their support from the government and called upon the resignation of then President Marcos. They responsibly barricaded Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo and had their troops ready to combat against possible armed attack organized by Marcos and his troops. The Catholic Church represented by Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin along with the priests and nuns called for the support of all Filipinos who believed in democracy. Radyo Veritas aired the message of Cardinal Sin that summoned thousands of Filipinos to march the street of EDSA. It was an empowering demonstration that aimed to succeed peacefully with the intervention of faith. Nuns kneeled in front of tanks with rosaries in their hands and uttering their prayers.” According to Philippine history org.
The last social process is accommodation was when President Cory Aquino won the election because of the people power revolution and the departure of Ferdinand marcos to Hawaii. People saw Cory Aquino as a symbol of hope and democracy in that time. When the assassination of Ninoy Aquino put out in public in 1983 she continued the legacy that her husband left. As she runs for presidency she convinced people that she is a qualified leader of the country with her words “I have to admit I have no experience in lying, cheating, stealing, killing political opponents” impacted the mass amidst the continuous bashing of the Marcoses about her that she is an uneducated person. Another good example for accommodation is the Filipino people itself who fights for their country amidst the threats by the government. It is a type of accommodation which is domination, domination over the opposing power. The people dominated the ruling class and establishing a new government which is the Cory Administration.
As what I’ve said in todays time the Philippines is experiencing the same path as the past. But as I’ve watched kingmaker it opened my eyes into a new reality that it is somewhat connected into todays world. As what I see in my own perspective i sense that there will be an another EDSA People Power because of the unjust rulings and the corruption that is hidden to the eyes of many but to some people who have privilege in education can see it right through. Evidence showing on how martial law had been implemented in 1972 still shows today the militarization in the University of The Philippines where Police and military shows up like in the times of Marcos to silence the youth in protesting. Media manipulation through social media a great example of it is the “Mocha Uson Blog” who deliberately spread fake news to the people and the rise of trolls funded by the administration to spread propaganda for the President against the opposition. Duterte’s war on drugs symbolizes the killings done of the late President Marcos who killed people without a proper trial and investigation because they hold the power of all the branches of the Government. It is also said in the video that the Marcos and the Duterte family are related to each other so that they can pave way for BongBong Marcos to seat and regain the Malacañang palace for his family. It is an act of vindication for them to finally clear out the bad image that they are living today. The connection of the past is being reflected today, and it may seem subtle but the idea of it is so much to see. It may be a different person but the formula of dictatorship is so much the same from the past. References:
