Consumers Domain
People without power
"Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel-sprig sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance climbed up through my conscious mind…”
It’s the 21st Anniversary of a very important event in the history of the Filipinos – the 1986 EDSA People Power. Some call it an uprising, others call it a revolution. Whatever you call it though, what is clear is that it provided a spark in the hearts and minds of all Filipinos.
That time, many of us thought that this event is like the “light-in-the-end-of-the-tunnel-thing.” It was a moment in time when many of us, buoyed by the spirit of EDSA, caught a glimpse of a progressive nation where freedom, human rights and social justice reign.
But what happened? Years and years after the historic event, our nation became a country of greater misery. Led by a series of corrupt and traditional politicians, the Filipinos remain mired in deep poverty.
More than a two decades hence, we are under a corrupt government, the worst of its kind. A nation with a President brought to power by massive electoral fraud. An elite government trying to preserve its power utilizing whatever means, callous to the rights of the people.
In this light, I would like to share a piece I wrote the previous year. It is a humble attempt in Hiligaynon poetry on the topic of the 20th anniversary of EDSA. Its message still embodies what this author feels every time we commemorate the EDSA people power.
Biente ka tuig matapos ang EDSA
Baw pwerte ang pinoy,
maisog, nag-rebolusyon;
Mga pumuluyo nag-gwa
sa karsada, nag-ugyon…
Mil-nueve-sientos-otsentay-sais,
bulan sang Pebrero;
Kalibutan nagdayaw
sa kakahas sang Pilipino.Mangunguma, mamumugon,
propesyunal, estudyante;
Soldado, pulis, madre,
pari kag negosyante…
Ululupod, nagmartsa,
nagpakita pag-isa;
Para ipakigbato
ang bwas-damlag sang banwa.Apang beinte ka tuig matapos
ang paghulag sa EDSA;
Duha ka dekada man nga antos,
nga pag-agwanta…
Hustisya sosyal, demokrasya
kag pag-alalangay,
Mga damgo naton,
daw sa guma nga naglunay.Pipol power! Pipol power!
Pipol power! Pipol power!
Ang masubo, ang “pipol”
ang nadulaan power…
Pagkamkam manggad kag poder
ang ila gin-asikaso;
San-o kamo palinyahon sa pader,
o mga trapo?!
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