EDSA 20

I was not surprised that my son, who is 12 years old, did not know much about Tita Cory or Edsa 1 or martial law. However, I was totally taken aback to learn that many of his teachers, who are in their mid-20s, didn’t either.

Indeed, it is difficult for anyone who did not live through the horrors of martial law to truly appreciate the miracle that was Cory Aquino and Edsa 1. It was therefore quite instructive when, on Aug. 3, the government television stations totally ignored the tens of thousands of people who poured out into the streets to watch the transfer of Tita Cory’s remains to the Manila Cathedral—as a way of expressing their grief and bidding her a loving farewell.

Government lackeys in the time of Marcos tried to conceal the fact that millions joined
Ninoy’s funeral by blocking off media coverage of the event, choosing instead to highlight in the Marcos-controlled press the banner story “Lightning kills 1.” The current lackeys last Aug. 3 chose to air instead Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address, which was delivered on July 27, 2009.

I used this event to teach my son how things will be under a dictatorship; it should serve as a reminder to all of how things will be if we forget the ideals that Tita Cory fought for, and allow anyone to usurp power for herself (or himself, of course).

—EMM MARTINEZ,
1040 Park Ave., New York, NY