EDSA atbp.

A few days ago, we celebrated EDSA but without so much fanfare. I don’t know if it has to do with BBM being the President though in fairness to him he has not really done anything to significantly dwarf its historical value and how it has shaped our political landscape.

Perhaps, just like anything else, its importance is simply lost through time as we are all prisoners of the moment. Besides, a lot of things have happened since then. So, our perspective about it may have already been clouded and maybe, just maybe, we may have already forgotten why we, as a people, collectively did the things we did back then and what we actually meant.

But the true lessons of EDSA should not be forgotten. It’s not just about Marcos per se though most historical pundits seem to portray this historical event as merely an auspicious opportunity that led to the defeat of a blatantly abusive dictator who is the be-all and end-all of everything that is evil, dishonorable and corrupt.

This, of course, is far from the truth. EDSA is not really about Marcos but a constant reminder of how corruption is embedded in our societal DNA.

Make no mistake about it though. I do not condone or diminish the sins of Martial Law. In fact, the human rights abuses committed then should not be justified or excused. Those responsible for them should be held accountable at all costs.

However, let us not delude ourselves into thinking that they would not have happened if the former strongman wasn’t elected into office or if someone else actually took the Presidency. It’s not as simple as that.

Marcos, just like anyone else, was a product of his time. He became a dictator at a time when dictatorship was the prevailing norm. Just think of Suharto, Lee Kwan Yew or the Banana-Republic phenomenon in Latin America, it would make sense why he became what he became.

Since he grew up in a corrupt environment, that was more of a cultural reality than a collateral nuisance, his governance was swallowed by that. In fact, if not Marcos, it could have been anyone else. So embedded is this culture of degeneracy that those who succeeded him from office are really no different from him.

Sadly, our political leaders and some interest groups use Marcos for political gains, resorting to political propaganda to influence the people to either ridiculously and absurdly extoling him as a hero or singling him out as the only one responsible for our woes and misery.

This is not to say though we should trivialize the gains of EDSA. Certainly, we should celebrate this event as it paved the way for restoration of democracy. However, let us not kid ourselves into believing we have paradigmatically changed the course of our history for the better. You see, we just removed a tyrant, which albeit significant is not the panacea we’re looking for.

At the end of the day, it is not Marcos per se but this culture of corruption that is the culprit. And unless we eschew personality politics and political idolatry, we cannot truly extricate ourselves from the mess that we’re in.

Hopefully, at some point, we realize that what we need to do really is collectively help break this systemic corruption that has been crippling us, instead of conveniently giving our leaders a pass because we adore them, or pillorying them because they belong to the other side!