Veiled Democracy

I could still vividly remember the day when the late Pres. Marcos’ dictatorial regime was defunct. I was five years old then. I wondered why my parents didn’t go to work. All they did the whole day was watch tv. I also remember that I was begging my father to switch to another channel that featured our favorite cartoon series. Needless to say, I was not obliged. Thus, I was forced to sit with them and endure the boring ‘adult’ news. After a while, I started seeing tanks, men clad in military uniforms rushing to and fro, ABS-CBN and GMA 7 reporters reporting while shielding behind a tank. I thought it was a good movie only to find out years later that it was the great ‘Edsa’ revolution slash People Power Revolution.

I could sense then that there was tension in the atmosphere. My parents were talking in hushed and worried tones. They were both from the government offices. I imagined their fears and anxieties on what’s to become with them, the current government, and of what kind of future lies ahead of us. It was like a vigil. My mother held on to her rosary like it was her only hope for survival. She kept on whispering words I couldn’t understand. She might have been praying long and hard because the Edsa Revolution was becoming a big success as each hour passes by, as history attests.

Then as the day grows to a close, we were sent to bed early. I guess they didn’t want us to know what’s happening out there. It was so quiet outside. It was eerie. It was like there was no other life existing aside from us. I wonder if tomorrow would be a different one… a normal one, just like the days before. We didn’t know that our parents didn’t sleep at all. They were answering the call of the people in Edsa not to slumber and join them to the end of their crusade. I bet they wanted to be there, to be with the rest of the Filipinos who thought they were fighting for their freedom that’s been so long seized by the Marcoses. How sweet was their cause.

And now, after two decades, why is it that there are still people screaming in the streets chanting almost the same chants to the then ousted Pres. Marcos, only this time, they’re meant for Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Life has never been this harsh. People are dying out of hunger, heinous crimes, and depression. Do we feel free now? Do we feel liberated from the deceit and corruption of this government? Are we not held by them in throat as if our very existence depended on them? Are we any better now compared to the Martial law days?

I feel fear for my future children. I pity them. I don’t know where would all these lead to but I am hoping that they wouldn’t have to experience what our parents have gone through in the past. I am praying for a truly and morally liberated nation at least for their sake.