Philippines - People Power manifested

WITH regard to the 26th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution this year, reflections will inevitably be made on its significance.

Should we still bother to commemorate this event? Does it still have relevance to the present time? In short, should we still care?

In 1986 the Filipinos showed the world how a people united in a common cause can effect changes for good through peaceful means. We shared with the world the valuable lesson we learned during that struggle in the streets, that violence is not necessary for a people to make changes in their leadership. All that needs to be done is for them to send a message, loud and clear.

We can only watch with sorrow the developments in other countries such as Syria, where the people have given up on effecting change through a peaceful process and have instead taken up arms to fight for the return of freedom. The resulting bloodshed has caused the death of many who only wished to live in peace.

We Filipinos can still count ourselves among the fortunate that have been spared a civil war.

The overthrow of the decades-long dictatorship signaled the return of democracy and the dawning of a new time of hope, reconstruction and reconciliation.

The next question we ask ourselves is how far along the road have we actually come since Edsa 1986?

In his message on Saturday commemorating this historic event, President Aquino mentioned the gains that have been made to improve the lives of Filipinos and set our country on the fast-track to development.

Among them is the conditional cash-transfer program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development that benefited more than 2.3 million families last year, people from 78 cities, 968 municipalities from 80 provinces around the country.

Reforms in the commerce and trade sector have resulted in “a refreshing new confidence from the global community,” said the President. “We have registered all-time highs in our stock index 16 times,” as well as increased credit ratings from Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, Fitch, and Japan Credit Ratings Agencies.

He also cited the “record-breaking” number of investors in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. From 1995 to February 2012, the amount of money that went into the Peza totaled a little over P2 trillion.

“Last year,” the President said, “investments in Peza reached a total of P288.3 billion, the highest in history…from the beginning of our administration, investments in Peza have reached P439 billion [as of] last week. So in the past 16 years, our administration has accounted for 22 percent of [all] investments in Peza.”

Moreover, he said that the Japan External Trade Organization announced that “because of the high quality of work, the skilled and talented work force, and the low cost of doing business in our country, the Philippines is the No. 1 ideal destination of businessmen in Asia, whether in the manufacturing or in the service sectors.”

More good news: the Philippines is now a lender nation, having lent $125 million to shaky European economies last year through the International Monetary Fund. The Philippines was for 45 years a borrower nation. Such a reversal in trend shows that our economy is on the upswing.

Yet, we should not rest on our laurels. The President, in his speech at the flag ceremony at the People Power monument at Edsa on Saturday, reminded us that the struggle is not over:

“The Edsa Revolution was our point of departure towards where we want to go as one nation. And to this day, the revolution continues: to attain freedom from hunger. Freedom from poverty. Freedom from the lack of opportunities to succeed. Freedom from injustice.

“These are what we are fighting for now. Clearly, the miracle of Edsa would be for naught if we do not build on it, if we do not take care of it. If the majority of Filipinos do not feel any change, what good is democracy?”

Then is People Power still relevant in the present day? Definitely.

Do we have a long way to go? Yes.

Are we on the right path? Finally, we are. And that is the blessing of Edsa and the People Power Revolution.

In celebration of the People Power anniversary, the President turned over on Friday a total of 1,500 houses to personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police as part of a 21,400 housing program for them in coordination with the National Housing Authority.

The second phase of the program includes plans to build an additional 31,200 houses, reaching Visayas and Mindanao, with additional beneficiaries from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Bureau of Corrections, in line with the Aquino administration’s policy to give public servants who risk their lives for their countrymen “more opportunities to live better lives.”

In another development, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) last weekend saw the staging of two commemorative events.

On Saturday, the 2012 PCSO Freedom Cup race was held at Santa Ana Park in Naic, Cavite. The mile race was won by Arvin Dugo. Congratulations to the winning owner, lawyer Sixto Esquivias IV, and the other connections.

Yesterday, the PCSO held the People Power Sweepstakes Draw, a traditional sweepstakes event. Along with PCSO Chairman Margarita Juico, other agency officials, and guests from media, other government agencies, and the public, six major prizes and many other lesser prizes were given away.

Revenue from the sales of traditional sweepstakes and computerized lotto tickets, as well as other PCSO games such as Keno and scratch cards make up the PCSO’s charity fund which is used to provide medical- and healthcare-related assistance to individual and institutional beneficiaries around the country.

ATTY. JOSE FERDINAND M. ROJAS II

Businessmirror.com.ph

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