Vloglet #1: Remembering Edsa Dos
January 18th, 2008Coy Caballes, ThisisCoy.net
January 19, 2008
Ang Aking Kuwentong People Power 2
January 18th, 2008Ederic Eder, ederic@cyberspace
January 19, 2008
Para sa Blog Action Week ng Bloggers’ Kapihan, narito ang aking ambag. Pinaiksi at inayos na bersyon ito ng “Liham ng Tagumpay” na unang nalathala sa Mga Kuwentong People Power 2 section ng Tinig.com.
Enero 16, 2001, Martes
Galing ako sa isang meeting sa Makati noong gabing nagsimula ang EDSA People Power 2. Nasa meeting pa lang ako ay nagsimula nang magdatingan ang text messages tungkol sa labing-isang pangit. May magmumura — akala ko nga galit sa akin yung officemate ko na naunang nag-text–may nanggagalaiti, at kung anu-ano pa. Yung isang natanggap ko: “Remember the names of these senators; they betrayed the Filipino people: [name of the ugly senators].” That time medyo alumpihit na ako but since nasa meeting nga, wala akong magawa.
Later, nagtawag ako at nakibalita. Pero basically, naintindihan ko na na yun nga, hindi pinabuksan ang second envelope. Samantala, tuluy-tuloy ang mga text sa aking cellphone. Noise barrage raw ng 11pm at rally kinabukasan sa Senate. 11pm na, nasa bus pa ako; medyo nag-umpisa nang magkaingay ang mga sasakyan sa labas. Ako, gusto kong magwala sa loob pero siyempre nakakahiya kung para akong baliw na magsisigaw nang bigla. Nagtaka lang ako dahil kahit lagpas ng 11, tuluy-tuloy pa rin ang mga busina. Kahit magtu-twelve na ay may bumubusina pa.
Text power and People Power
January 18th, 2008Tonyo Cruz, TonyoCruz.com
January 18, 2008
In commemoration of People Power 2, I am posting here a copy of my contribution to a still-unpublished youth compendium of articles on the event.
I wrote this piece way back in 2002 (or 2003?). It deals with the use of technology in Edsa 2 and succeeding events.
Forward the message, answer the call for change
TEXTING AND OTHER TOOLS OF A PEOPLE IN REVOLTBy Anthony Ian “Tonyo” M. Cruz
Much has been said about the role of texting and the People Power 2 uprising. Some quarters have even gone to the extent of calling it a “texters’ revolt.” They cast aside People Power 2 as nothing but “mob rule” that was helped in a big way by texting and a flowering of websites and mailing lists which were all directed against one common enemy called Erap.
However, they are right only on one point: That the most vocal, most determined and most organized participants in the uprising were armed with cellphones and sent out a heretofore unimaginable number of text messages for about three days.
These critics of People Power 2 were wrong everywhere else.
EDSA Dos: Remembered & Reflected Upon
January 18th, 2008Shari Cruz, Misteryosa.com
January 18, 2007
Here’s an entry dedicated to commemorate People Power 2, in support of the Blog Action Week spearheaded by Bloggers’ Kapihan.
I was a freshman student at Quezon City Science High School (map) back then. I wasn’t politically inclined (stop grinning, I wasn’t as obsessed in politics when I was a youngster as you think I was!), but I did like to watch the news and make side comments about the politicians. I mean, who didn’t? Politics was so much of a grand circus that I had come to like it enough to talk about it!
No one in my family remembers the things that happened the night we went to EDSA to participate in the uprising. Whenever I ask my mom, who, by the way, used to be a militant herself during her college days, she’d tell me she’s forgotten the date. My dad probably has no recollection whatsoever of what transpired that fateful night.
EDSA DOS: Remembering My Own Battle
January 18th, 2008Bleue, Color me Bleue
January 17, 2007
The whole world already knows the chronology of events that led to the Filipino people uprising seven years ago. From the accusations of Senator Teofisto Guingona, the transmittal of the impeachment complaint from the House of the Representatives to the Senate led by Speaker Manuel Villar, the historic roles of the Senators then who acted as trial judges, the dramatic display of emotions of Senator Loren Legarda and unforgettable bop of Senator Tessia Aquino-Oreta that made her an instant “Dance Diva” when the Impeachment Court said “NO” for the opening of the envelope, the spontaneous build-up of people in EDSA, and all the who, what and when of People Power 2. But there are stories that were not written in the history and facts that were not known to the world. My story is one of those.
This is actually a response to the call of Bloggers Kapihan in reminiscing EDSA People Power 2.
Seven years ago, I went to EDSA. I went there alone with my personal fight, my very own battle.
Seven years
January 18th, 2008Mong Palatino, Mongster’s Nest
January 17, 2008
Many people wanted President Cory Aquino to stand for re-election but she has chosen to step down after six years in power. President Fidel Ramos wanted to extend his term but failed to amend the Constitution on time. President Joseph Estrada “dropped out” after three years of partying in Malacanang. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can boast to her predecessors that she has managed to stay in power for seven years already.
The framers of the 1987 Constitution wanted to prevent overstaying presidents of the republic. They hoped that an authoritarian leader like President Ferdinand Marcos will be the last in the country’s history. They decided that a president should only rule for six years and he/she is barred from seeking re-election.
Always But Never There
January 18th, 2008
January 17, 2008
For a good part of my life, at least for a few minutes almost every day, I am at EDSA. But talk about EDSA in another breadth and I can tell you I was never there.
I’m old enough to have witnessed the 3 EDSA events unfold.
EDSA for me will always be the 1986 People Power Movement. I was a high school senior then who considered the coup a breather from classes. The country stood still then. People stopped working and went to EDSA. My family stayed home but prepared food for heroes. Although they had to wake me up from slumber when Marcos left, I felt proud of what happened in the country. For a while there, my favorite song was Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo.
EDSA 2 Remembered
January 18th, 2008Jaywalker, Pedestrian Observer
January 16, 2007
I just got an invitation from Mong Palatino of mongster’s nest on a memorable or dishonorable event this weekened of January 19-20th, 2008 depending on how you feel about it.
Indeed, no one can deny that event such as this needed to be revisited otherwise we will never learn and as the saying goes your past determines who you are.
A noteworthy event that has Mike Arroyo bragging about the coup plot they hatched and one of the first order of business for the new president was the exciting meeting with Lucio Tan among the first “esteemed” guest to grace the palace ….. we know what happened next, splashed in the newspaper Tan’s woes was gone like a stroke of a magic wand.
Read the rest of this entry »
Edsa Dos
January 18th, 2008Ron Villegas, Goodbye Blue Monday
January 15, 2008
When I recieved a text message from a friend of mine calling for everyone and anyone to go to the streets of EDSA and join the crowd calling for the removal of then President Joseph Estrada in what would later be known as People Power II, I immediately turned off the TV, changed clothes and despite the pleas of my mother went out of the house, took a bus and got off in Ortigas.
That was me in EDSA II. Then again, that was were I would have been had I not been stuck in Pangasinan when history was made.
I was in second year High School in Pangasinan then, five hours away from Manila (the North Luzon Expressway was yet to be fixed). So, I was one of those who watched the events unfold from the comforts of my home, eating potato chips and exchanging gossip and news with my mom.
Nonetheless, that does not mean that EDSA Dos was just another event for me.
Remembering People Power 2
January 18th, 2008Aileen Apolo, An Apple a Day
January 14, 2008
Bloggers Kapihan blog action for this week is about “Remembering People Power 2″ and I thought I’d share my experience about it. I do remember People Power 1, I was a kid then and very much a supporter of the change in government. It was what was needed my parents explained to me. I remember collecting newspaper clippings and reading up about what was happening in my surroundings even though I didn’t exactly understand what was really happening. I remember it well coz classes were suspended for about a long time and that’s the time I learned how to ride a bike (all on my own). I also remember being one of the “flower girls” when former President Cory Aquino (she was still just a candidate then) visited our school (St. Scholastica’s College). I welcomed her in my school uniform with matching yellow-ribboned pigtails (now don’t go looking for a photo, I don’t have one). That was back in 1985… fast forward to 2001.
Random Reflections on EDSA 2 (slightly updated)
January 18th, 2008Danny Arao, Rising Sun
January 14, 2008
N.B. – In observance of Bloggers Action Week organized by the Bloggers’ Kapihan crew, please find below a slightly revised version of an essay I wrote in 2004, the original version of which may be retrieved from http://www.librarylink.org.ph/featarticle.asp?articleid=54.
I must confess: While cause-oriented groups and concerned individuals were already at the EDSA Shrine, I spent the whole morning making revisions to my MA thesis proposal on January 19, 2001!
I was supposed to do it the night before (January 18), but I was unfortunately invited by IBC Channel 13 to appear in its special coverage of the impeachment trial. I also failed to finish it earlier since I had to prepare a yearend economic briefing paper I presented at the IBON Birdtalk on January 11. The days after saw media interviews left and right regarding the statements I made, particularly Estrada’s ouster as a prerequisite to economic recovery.
Remembering People Power 2
January 18th, 2008Victor Villanueva, Bikoy.net
January 13, 2008
[Actually, hindi ako kasama noong People Power 2]. I am honestly ashamed to remember what I was doing during People Power 2, because I was exactly the type of person back then that I detest today–a prude conservative who refused to join the urban middle-class disruption that was brewing, even in our sheltered Ateneo High School. I honestly can’t stomach the things I’ve written in my “online journal” back then, hence they’re not available in my blog’s present archives.
Back then, it became quite fashionable among Ateneans to be joining all those walk-outs and indoor rallies. I refused to believe that my classmates, and most other rich kids in my high school for that matter, knew what they were doing, and I thought it was all just a fashionable lynch mob at the covered courts endorsed even by the entire faculty at that time. I was confident that all along, my schoolmates simply thought it was so cool that we had faculty-endorsed free cuts.
BLOG ACTION WEEK: Bloggers remember People Power 2
January 9th, 2008On the weekend of Jan. 19-20, we remember People Power 2.
Do you remember watching the rallies and the impeachment trial that was like a telenovela? Did you receive and forward jokes and the “Go 2 Edsa” message to all the people in your phonebook? Did you come to Edsa Shrine (or the public plazas nationwide) with your family, friends, schoolmates and officemates? Did you take photos? Did you make your own placards? Did you join the exciting march to Mendiola that signaled the victory for the uprising? Do you remember what you felt, and the big dreams and aspirations we all had for our country?
Mark your calendars:
Bloggers Kapihan 3.0 Event
Jan. 19, 2:00-5:00 pm
Kape Tasyo (Freedom Bar)
Anonas, Quezon City
Seven years — yes, seven years — have passed since the four days that redefined People Power culminated in the ouster of the president with the biggest electoral mandate in Philippine history and we in Bloggers Kapihan invite you to remember. Just answer these questions, post memorabilia like photos and videos. Simply put, we want you to act by picking up a pen or going to the computer to tell your story, your version of what happened on Jan. 16-20 and your dreams for the country.