Edsa Revolt redux in Bangladesh

If there is any gift that Filipinos gave to the world, it is the People Power Revolution, a mode of regime change that has earned a place in the political lexicon along with coup d’etat and other extra-legal challenges to authority. Now other countries embroiled in political crisis emulate it.

The phenomenal ascension of the late Corazon Aquino to the presidency through a mode not sanctioned by the Constitution or law was nothing short of spectacular and unprecedented. It was the exercise by the people of a sovereign right inherent to them as citizens.

They say the people are the font of political power, ergo, they have the concomitant right to withdraw such power. The world was awed and mesmerized by such a display of a potent democratic power, unseen since democracy was conceived and practiced in Athens where it originated.

For once, Filipinos the world over were proud to be Filipino, basking in the glow of popularity in the political world for their demonstration of the true power of democracy.

These thoughts cascaded in our mind as we watched the political drama unfolding in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country with whom the Philippines has a special relationship. An Edsa-like people power revolt has ensnared the country with nationwide anti-government protests which the authorities, employing draconian measures, have failed to quell.

The recent trigger was a quota system that reserved 30 percent (reduced by the Supreme Court to five percent) of government jobs for children of independence war veterans, which the opposition said favored the ruling party.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to step down and flee to India leaving her country in a political shambles. The military has announced it will exercise power temporarily to fill the vacuum of leadership and will soon organize an interim caretaker government until normalcy is restored.

Throwback. In 1997 I was fortunate to be a member of the official entourage of then President Fidel Ramos in his foreign state visits (Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor was averse to traveling and she always sent me being the Undersecretary for Tourism Promotion to represent the Department). One of the countries we visited was Bangladesh.

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh then was Sheikh Hasina, the same leader who has now reportedly fled the country to escape the wrath of the people who are fed up with corruption, the sick economy, the violence and violation of human rights. PM Sheik Hasina is the daughter of the Founding Father and first Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheik Mujibur Rahman. During the 1975 Bangladeshi coup d’etat the whole family was massacred by their political opponents. Hasina and sister Rehana were spared only because they were then in Europe. In time, she succeeded her father and ruled for a total of 20 years.

The country rolled out the red carpet for Ramos. In fact, when our airplane crossed into the airspace of Bangladesh a fleet of fighter jets met us in the air. The lead jet flew alongside our plane and we saw the pilot and co-pilot execute a salute which President Ramos acknowledged by saluting back. It was touching.

During the diplomatic dialogue between our party and our Bangladeshi counterparts, we learned from PM Sheik Hasina that her country owed a debt of gratitude to the Philippines for being the first country to recognize the state of Bangladesh after it broke away from Pakistan. Since then, the diplomatic, political, trade and socio-cultural relationship between the two countries has always been robust.

As we go to press, we learned that Bangabhaban, the Presidential Palace, had been stormed, violated, ransacked and looted by large mobs. I watched the video and was overwhelmed with an eerie feeling of déjà vu because it was a redux of the time Malacañang Palace was invaded and ransacked by a mob after the First Family fled to Hawaii in 1972.

We only wish that like the Edsa revolt, military professionalism will prevail in Bangladesh to allow for a smooth transition of power.

What is happening in Bangladesh is a didactic message to politicians that political power is fleeting.

amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com