By Cyrus A. Natividad

February 25, 2021 marks the 36th year of the EDSA Revolution.

There was once a proposal to change the name of Metro Manila’s longest avenue, Epifanio De los Santos Avenue (EDSA), with a new one. It did not get a chance even before another name came up.

EDSA is forever a substance of democracy, in our history. Looking back more than 30 years ago, we were with a group of Centralians who walked from Ayala to Ortigas. With me was my sister and her husband Manny Sombilon; both active leaders in the CPU Republic during their student days.

Throngs of people from other organizations converged outside Camp Aguinaldo. It will be a “peaceful revolution” to willfully unite Filipinos and regain their long-lost freedom from dictatorship. The EDSA Revolution was not limited to Metro Manila. There were many uprisings in cities all over the country.

We settled near Camp Aguinaldo. While huddled with fear because we were near the military zone, we were comforted by generous Centralian supporters who shared their time, cups of noodles, and bread. “It could be a long moment of waiting”, said one of our companions. According to the news, a negotiation was going on between the camps of Enrile and Ramos (Secretary of Defense and Chief of Staff, respectively who defected to the side of the people), and the government negotiators.

Hands were together held again as news that a phalanx of military personnel and tanks were on their way to crush the so-called “People Power” on EDSA. Minutes were counted, but they didn’t come. Again we sat down on the island at the Ortigas-EDSA intersection. Deep in the evening, another serving of cup noodles, coffee and sandwiches were shared with us by support organizations.
The Centralian members of the August Twenty One Movement (ATOM) of Makati continued to warm our spirits with stories about Central, and Manny’s recollection of the ‘First Quarter Storm’ (a.k.a. FQS). “It was the first quarter –January to March 1970 and civil unrest was creeping all over the country”, he said. Manny recalled that “stones were thrown at windows of the shops at downtown Iloilo by the activists. That was an event that would lead to the declaration of Martial Law.”
More stories were shared as sunrise began to light another day on EDSA. We never knew what’s going to happen after dawn. Around eight in the morning, we looked up to the sky; a helicopter hovered above EDSA and yellow flowers rained, with notes that the military were with us. Could they have defected already?

Some armored cars and personnel carriers were now approaching. The span of EDSA was full from left to right, whichever side you are, and people power supporters stretched from Ortigas to Cubao. We saw the military stopped short at the crowd’s front-liners who ‘teased and offered flowers to the military commanders. Suddenly people shouted with tears of joy in their eyes as the generals and their men declared, “We are with you!”

In the afternoon of February 25, 1986, the People Power Revolution triumphed over the dictatorship. Marcos and his family fled to Hawaii. Cory Aquino held on to power as the new President of the Philippine Republic. The EDSA People Power Revolution was a remarkable peaceful fight of the Filipino people against the dictatorship.

We have EDSA forever in our minds, as we continue to remember those who struggled for democracy; those who lost their lives in darkness…so that others may live to see the light of a new day.