Celebrating EDSA

The week started with the usual bickering among the former partners at EDSA. Should the main celebration be on Feb. 22 or 25? Former military reformists, whose plot to topple the Marcos dictatorship helped trigger the peaceful revolt in February 1986, prefer to celebrate the start of their mutiny. Those who mustered people power, on the other hand, are gathering at the EDSA Shrine today. Meanwhile, on the stretch of EDSA between Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame, cause-oriented groups are bringing a new dimension to the annual gathering, turning their rally into an anti-administration protest.

For those who manned the ramparts in the fight against authoritarian rule, there's much cause for worry. The people they fought are back, winning elections, flaunting their wealth, thumbing their noses at their critics, rubbing elbows with those in power. "It's good to be back," Imelda Marcos said months ago as she set foot in Malacañang, her home of 20 years, for the first time since her exile. It's no secret that the Marcoses are old friends of President Estrada, and he has made no effort to distance himself from the family.

Compounding the people's dismay over the Marcoses' return is a perception that cronyism and corruption are back, favoring relatives and friends of those in power. The President has repeatedly denied that cronyism is back under his administration or even that he has cronies. But such perceptions have driven away investors in recent weeks and are threatening to turn the Philippines once again into Asia's economic basket case.

The unity that made the miracle of EDSA possible unraveled just months after the revolt. Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin has often lamented that after EDSA, it's again every man for himself, and who cares about the nation? Fourteen years after EDSA, many of those who made people power possible are deeply disappointed.

Yet there are those, like former President Corazon Aquino, who prefer to look on the bright side. If there is one cause for celebration today, it is EDSA's legacy of freedom. This freedom will make today's anti-government rallies push through without anyone fearing arrest for peaceful assembly. This freedom will make it possible to criticize and even insult the President without fear of being locked up indefinitely with no formal charges.

In the past year there have been worrisome attempts to silence critics, along with moves to curtail rights. But the spirit of EDSA has become too ingrained for Filipinos to take such attempts sitting down. Democracy, for all its imperfections, has become deeply rooted in this country. And Filipinos will see to it that it remains as strong as the day it was dramatically regained 14 years ago.