Philippine People Power a withering dream

Press, 5 March 1988, Page 33

Philippine People Power a withering dream

By PHILLIP MELCHIOR NZPA-Reuter Manila

Two years after the self-styled miracle of the People Power revolution, the Philippine dream has turned to disillusionment.

"Bayan Ko,” the hauntingly idealistic anthem of Corazon Aquino's Rainbow Coalition, is no longer constantly recycled on television with soft-focus image of a hopeful future. Instead, as the Philippines begins the second anniversary of the near bloodless upheaval that exiled Ferdinand Marcos and gave Aquino, the keys to the presidential palace, the talk is of what went wrong.

"Somewhere along the way ... there was a betrayal of the aspirations of EDSA," wrote the editor of the “Manila Chronicle,” Amando Doronila, referring to a mass demonstration on the multi-lane Epifanio de los Santos Avenue whose acronym became a sym-

bol of thP revolution. In truth, the revolution for most started in 1983 with the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Corazon's husband jand the oppositionleader. But it burst into flower on February 22, 1986, when a small, vulnerable group oi army officers gathered with two senior defence figures to defy Marcos. Urged on by church radio, they were quickly protectei by a millionstrong human anti-tank barricade that blocked EDSA, leading to‘ the army camp where the rebels were holding out. Three days later, Marcos’s 20 years of power ended with a flight to exile in Hawaii. In the strongly Roman Catholic Philippines, EDSA became a miracle. In the papers, on television, in conversation, EDSA meant all things were possible in a country gutted by decades of

strong-arm rule, rampant j corruption and an exploding population. But the. headlines have now turned sour. "EDSA' — all for nothing,” said a “Businessworld” columnist, Ninez Cacho-Olivares. “Sadly enough, many of us don’t seem to remember what the fight at EDSA was all .about. Perhaps, to many so-called heroes of EDSA, the fight was not for freedom and democracy. Perhaps it was all a matter of using the Filipino people to save one’s skin,” she said. i In the last two years, Aquino has ridden out five attempted coups and other political turmoil. The struggle has left her looking more secure than ever before but moveci her Rightwards towards the military. i The once bright multipolitical colours of her original Rainbow Coalition are in faded scraps. i “In short, both (Marcos

anil Aquino) regimes have increasingly become lookalikes 1 — opposite sides of the same coin,” wrote Doronila, one of the country’s most respected commentators. (He | said many people felt betrayed. :“Tney see the reincarnation of the Marcos regime ! disguised in the clothes of the new democracy (and cannot) help wondering what the exercise j at EDSA was all about or whether it was worth all the effort.” What was supposed to be a reformist revolution nowl looked like "a crushed anthill with its inhabitants scurrying about without direction and'in disarray,” he said. Doronila’s bitterness is constantly echoed by members of Manila's educated middle-class. they cite the obvious continuation of corruption, the numbing inefficiencies that dog life in the capital and the presi-

dent’s apparently increasing militarism. i Most (of all, they are bitter at what they see as the reformist opportune ties Aquino failed to take in the'first heady ’ postMarcos ; months when everyone still believed in miracles. ‘

To many outsiders, the judgment is as harshly unrealistic as were the initial expectations. Aquino's visible accomplishments are not inconsiderable.

Analysts say the Philippines, in spite of the constant bickering and shifting of political allegiances,: appears to have a new-found stability.

New administrators are making j headlines in crusades' against corruption in departments such as immigration and customs that were riddled with graft. The army is less openly restive than at any time since it helped Aquino to

power and then appeared to feel it had made a mistake. Elections for a new Congress and for provincial and town governments have gone off more smoothly than anyone expected. Although many one-time Marcos followers have re-emerged clad ini different colours, analysts: say the process has 1 helped stability by giving everyone a stake in the system.

But it is perhaps indicative of the current mood that most observers (expect the biggest crowd at EDSA'S second birthday party to be paid extras in a joint American-Austra-lian television mini-series now giving "Pebple Power” a final fairytale polish. I

Television advertis-; ments this week have ,a different message. | ; “Is it all gone now?” 1 they: ask. “Not if we: care.”