This editorial is not intended to glorify ex-President Ferdinand Marcos. Its purpose is to show the duplicity of ex-President Benigno Aquino III when he spoke at the ceremony marking the 33rd anniversary of the so-called 1986 EDSA revolution, which ended the Marcos administration replacing it with the incompetent and vindictive regime of President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.

The crowd that joined Aquino III at the ceremony was so thin that the non-event ended in just a couple of hours.

Former President Fidel Ramos and ex-Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who were main players in that event, were absent. Even President Rodrigo Duterte ignored the activity.

Many students who welcome breaks from regular school days asked their parents why 25 February was even declared a non-working holiday.

The 1986 uprising led to the ouster of President Marcos from power. Well, it has been 33 years since that happened and, quite frankly, nobody gives a damn about that event anymore mainly because its sole objective of removing Marcos from office came and went.

There are also many who believe it is downright absurd to celebrate the replacement of the authoritarian government under Mr. Marcos with a worse one under Mrs. Aquino.

Anyway, Aquino III told his supporters at the ceremony that the EDSA uprising must be remembered so that the dark years of the Marcos government will never return to haunt the land or words to that effect. That statement has got to be the most tongue-in-cheek remark this ex-President has said in recent times.

On account of the miserable failure of Mrs. Aquino to work for the best interests of the nation, Aquino III’s speech only glorifies EDSA as the boulevard of broken dreams.

Actually, the 1986 EDSA uprising is better remembered by discussing the accomplishments of Marcos, which the Aquinos and their allies ignored or belittled.

Under Marcos, the Philippine passport was respected on sight. When the Aquinos were in power, our passport became identified with the thousands of Filipino overseas workers who sought employment abroad because the Aquinos could not provide them work at home.

Public housing under Marcos was not a problem, thanks mainly to the Ministry of Human Settlements. Squatters proliferated in Metropolitan Manila under both Aquinos.

Numerous public hospitals were constructed under Marcos like the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center, Kidney Center and the Children’s Hospital. The Philippine General Hospital got a big annex building. Not a single public hospital was established during the administration of both Aquinos.

In accordance with the constitutionally mandated separation of Church and State, Marcos kept his distance from church leaders. Mrs. Aquino allowed Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin to influence her decisions.

During the Marcos watch, the Department of Health (DoH) took care of the well-being of indigent Filipinos. Under Aquino III, the DoH got entangled in a controversy over deadly vaccinations.

Marcos ordered a land reform program for all arable land without any ifs and buts. Mrs. Aquino’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program covered every parcel of arable land in the Philippines except her family’s Hacienda Luisita.

Metropolitan Manila under Marcos was the tourist destination of choice in all of Southeast Asia. During the time of Aquino III, numerous nations issued advisories directing their nationals to avoid going to the Philippines for safety reasons.

Marcos allowed detained political opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. to leave the Philippines to undergo triple-heart bypass surgery in the United States. Aquino III refused to let detained ex-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo seek medical treatment abroad.

Under Marcos, communist troublemakers like Jose Ma. Sison were kept in detention. Mrs. Aquino released Sison when she was president. Today, Sison continues to create problems for the Philippines from his headquarters in The Netherlands.

Marcos kept the separatist movement in Mindanao at bay. Aquino III almost succeeded in dismembering Mindanao by creating a sub-state in the island through his ill-conceived Bangsamoro Basic Law.

During his time, Marcos was the recognized boss of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. As president, Aquino III comported himself like a stooge of Malaysia.

As commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Marcos made sure that casualties among military personnel were kept to a minimum. Under Aquino III, military personnel at Mamasapano in Maguindanao were recklessly allowed to be massacred by the enemy.

The list continues but this editorial has limited space so all this will have to do for now.