The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan commemorates the 10th anniversary of EDSA People Power 2. We are reminded that a united people can be a potent force for change. However, EDSA 2 also reminds us that changing the president is not enough to bring about fundamental change. This much is true even under the current administration which has also promised sweeping reforms but has not delivered on these.
EDSA 2 was never about bringing Arroyo to power. It was about fighting corruption and abuse. We are reminded that what turned out to be the principal beneficiary of EDSA 2, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, betrayed ‘people power’ and embarked on 9 years of anti-people rule marked by corruption, election fraud, gross human rights violations and the sell-out of national interest to foreign powers.
Ten years after EDSA 2, Arroyo remains in power as a member of Congress. Many of her erstwhile allies have managed to rehabilitate themselves and become part of Aquino’s ruling party. Several Arroyos are now in the House of Representatives, with one even posing as a representative of the marginalized.
The people who were part of EDSA 2 and those that fought the Arroyo regime thereafter should make sure that GMA is made accountable for her crimes. President Aquino has the biggest responsibility and the actual capacity to make Arroyo accountable. While Aquino’s expose’ on corruption may make for good soundbytes, the prosecution of Arroyo and her cohorts is the real indication that government is serious in going after the former president.
“People power” should always be an option against tyranny and injustice. That much we have learned in the fight even against the Arroyo regime. ###
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