EDSA 20

(Continued from last Monday)

IT IS not generally known but the Edsa People Power I uprising of February 1986 may not have materialized, had not some police officers, specifically Gen. Alfredo Lim, chief of the Northern Police District, slyly disobeyed orders from President Ferdinand Marcos to disperse the crowds at the Edsa highway. The rebels had holed up at the police general headquarters Camp Crame. Malacañang sent soldiers with tanks to assault Crame but could not get through the crowds.

At daybreak of the second day, Sunday, when Butz Aquino and his August 21 Movement (Atom), left Edsa after an all-night vigil, less than 1,000 people were left there. Lim, who had 800 policemen, could have easily dispersed them and cleared the way for the soldiers to assault the rebels on Crame. But he played possum all Sunday morning, ignoring calls from Malacañang and superior officers and mobile units sent out to look for him. About noon, he finally went to Edsa. There he was called by Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos from Camp Crame. Their conversation was one of the most crucial at Edsa.

“Fred, what are your orders?” Ramos asked.

“My orders, sir, are to disperse the crowds at Edsa at all costs.”

“Fred, if there’s a dispersal, we will all be wiped out here. I have with me Minister Enrile, former Chiefs of Staff Espino and Vargas, Assemblyman Cayetano, among many others. Our only weapons are M-16s and M-14s, which are ineffective against artillery, tanks and mortars. I hear there is an Army CDC group there and they are armed with heavy weapons.”

“No, sir. I talked with Colonel Javier and he told me that their only equipment are riot batons and shields.”

“You check. Their weapons are hidden in their 6x6 trucks. Anyway, Fred, 'bahala ka na' [do what you will].”

That won Lim over completely. Ramos did not just say: “Do not disperse!” He was tactful enough to leave the decision to the police superintendent.

“I felt like I was sitting on a volcano,” Lim said.

Then there was Butz Aquino asking, “Are you going to disperse us?”

“No.”

“Usapang lalaki?” ["Gentleman's agreement?"], Butz pressed.

“Usapang lalaki” Lim said as he shook hands with Butz who hurried out to inform his waiting companions.

At 5 p.m., Lim was notified that Malacañang was looking for him. He rang up the Study Room, and he heard a furious Marcos saying: “General, you failed me!” and demanding to be told why there was no dispersal.

“Mr. President, it is physically impossible to conduct dispersal operations.”

“Why? Why?” Marcos demanded.

“Because there are 35,000 to 45,000 people on Edsa and I have only 126 men with me.” (These 126 men under Colonel Dawis were the only ones Lim ordered to be with him. The rest he had deliberately left behind at Camp Sikatuna.)

“All right, listen,” said Marcos. “I will send you additional reinforcements: two more Army battalions. But be sure to disperse at all costs! Tell the crowd to go home, that Crame is going to be shelled.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. President.”

As Lim was mulling what to do, a call came from his compadre, Gen. Victor Natividad, who had just been appointed chief of the Philippine Constabulary in place of Ramos. Natividad told Lim to join him at the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) compound on Ortigas Avenue, and to bring along the Army CDC group.

“So we went to the Meralco compound in Ortigas and waited for General Natividad. And before us passed these tanks from the Edsa-Ortigas crossing. We didn’t know these were the tanks stopped by nuns and other brave spirits and forced to detour from Edsa. This was around 6 p.m.”

Shortly after, Natividad arrived. Lim presented himself, his police group and the Army CDC crowd dispersal contingent: “Here we are, General, reporting as ordered.”

“Yes, but where are the tanks?”

“What tanks? Oh, we saw them passing by just a while ago, on their way to Pasig.”

“Going to Pasig?” Natividad looked horrified. “But why to Pasig?” These tanks were supposed to have thundered down Edsa to Camp Crame and blasted their way into the rebel camp.

The phone rang. It was First Lady Imelda Marcos. She wanted to speak to the new PC chief. When Natividad returned from that telephone conversation, Lim seized the opportunity to get his men out of the scene. It was 8 p.m. He told Natividad that he and his men had been on duty since morning, without lunch or no rest. Couldn’t they be allowed to return to Camp Sikatuna for supper, a bath and some rest?

Natividad granted the request and Lim returned to headquarters with his men.

To get back to Sikatuna, they had to detour through the Libis area. Edsa had become impassable, barricaded by over 100,000 human bodies.

By Monday and Tuesday, Edsa had become a veritable human blockade: People Power! But People Power could have been aborted on the first two days of the uprising. What Marcos didn’t know was that it was not aborted because his own G-men, headed by the police superintendent in charge of the Edsa area, sabotaged the operation.

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m., Lim entered Camp Crame with all his men. Ramos welcomed his police allies: “Gentlemen, thank you for coming here and supporting us. But during one of the crisis moments last Sunday, when the order to disperse was given, I contacted Fred Lim. And without much ado, he evaded that dispersal order. Fred, thank you very much. And thanks again to all you gentlemen.”

Three hours later, the news came that Marcos and his family and cronies had been flown out of Malacañang on their way to exile. Cory Aquino was the new president.

P.S.: There is a taped interview with Lim at about the same time these events happened. Lim recounted the same events during that interview. It should be shown on TV.

More Inquirer columns

Previous columns:
The untold story of Edsa I – 2/26/07
Happy summer days in the countryside – 02/23/07
Escudero explains issues in May elections – 02/21/07
Two more shady deals by Napocor – 2/19/07
The beginning of the end for 'Pacman' – 2/16/07