The spirit of 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution has “evaporated” like a bubble, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said Thursday.
“Naging bula (It became a bubble). Bula (Bubble). It was a bubble. Evaporated. And it created a problem because the incoming government, put all kinds of structures, political and economic and so forth that is now creating this havoc into the country,” Enrile said during a weekly forum at the Senate.
The senator made such remark when asked about the country’s commemoration of the historic people power revolt three decades ago on February 25. Enrile, who was then Defense Minister, was among those who led the ouster of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Asked then if there was no reason anymore to commemorate the said historic event, Enrile answered: “I don’t say. They’ll say revisionist, Enrile.”
“I am not claiming credit for that, for heaven’s sake. Kayo ang nakinabang. Ano pakinabang namin (You benefited from it. What did we benefit from that)? We were persecuted all the time, every time since,” he said.
“But okay lang ‘yun (But it’s all right). I was not doing that for anybody, I was doing it for the country. Whether they believe me or not, problema na nila yun (Whether they believe me or not, it’s their problem). Until now, I am doing what I am doing, not for myself, for my family but for the country. Even my life, I am ready to shed at this time, if they are willing to take it. But I am not going to be taken without taking other people with me. I am not joking ha,” the senator added.
For Enrile, however, the people power revolt should be really commemorated on the 22nd, and not on the 25th of February.
“That is not my EDSA. Our EDSA is February 22nd, hindi ba? Ang sigaw ng mga Katipunan ay yung ang sine-celebrate hindi yung katapusan na makokoronahan na yung mga nakoronahan. Tapos na eh, natutulog na kami noong 25th. Bakit pa namin…Itinaya namin yung buhay namin 22nd eh,” he said.
(That is not my EDSA. Our EDSA is February 22nd, isn’t it? The scream of Katipunan is what we celebrate, not after the crowning of those supposed to have been crowned is done. It’s over, we were sleeping on the 25th. We risked our lives on the 22nd.)
Furthermore, Enrile said he would not go if invited to attend the 30th anniversary celebration on February 25. RAM
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