On the way to work today, I heard that old song “Handog ng Pilipino Sa Mundo.” And it brought a tear to my eye. It made me think of our late President Cory Aquino, Ninoy Aquino, Martial Law, the Snap Elections, EDSA I, and a lot of other things. I know my pop saved those old CAPM (Cory Aquino for President) banners that we used for the campaign and the marches after that. I know I have those old pins in a box somewhere and I hope to visit my parents’ place one of these days to dig up that stuff.
I remember in those early days of the CAPM when Mrs. Aquino refused to run for president. Incidentally there was only one head and it was Chino Roces and everyone else was in the Executive Committee. Us young bucks worked schools and the neighborhood. If anyone else says that they had a position then he is a liar. In the aftermath of EDSA, when government positions were being given to people, Cory said that the CAPM could avail themselves of positions in government. Roces said “No, thank you, Mrs. President but that is not why were formed the CAPM.” Of the Executive Committee, only one accepted a position. Task.Tsk. But before all that, Cory said that if they could produce one million signatures then she would run.
Wow. We went everywhere from Holy Cross Cemetery to Cubao to Ayala Avenue and of course Ateneo and UP. Mind you it was not an easy task to get people to sign as many were afraid that it would be used against them should Marcos fail to be dislodged. Even in school, it was hard to get people to sign but eventually all the CAPM people got it done. I remember meeting at the Quadrangle at the end of our first day and didn't have much -- 32 signatures? Know that people were saying, "Yes, we like Cory but how is she qualified?" But it snowballed after.
And those one million signatures were presented to Cory in Sto. Domingo Church where if I remember correctly, she announced her decision to run. Incidentally, those signatures in their booklets have all been saved and hopefully, we can do something proper with that.
Then we hit the campaign trail -- this weekend, I’ll have pics of those days scanned and post them – and it was a most exhilarating time. I previously mentioned some of the encounters we had with Metrocom cops (one in Cubao where we were putting up Cory posters at the wall around SM and another in San Juan near Wilson) but none yet with the military. Let me just say that I thought I’d see my life flash before me instead I saw Billy Idol on MTV.
While passing by EDSA today, I looked around and remembered those first few days of the People Power Revolution.
We had CMT that Saturday. Technically, I was exempted from CMT because I was on the track team but I still took it anyway because my friends were not. It was no big deal since I was Flight Sergeant for the Air Police and all we did was guard trees that were not going to run away. And it also allowed us to bring our small clubs when we went to the UAAP games then in case someone wanted to rumble.
Anyways after we were dismissed at 4pm, I went to the San Jose Seminary where there was some Jesuit event that was going on but for the life of me I cannot remember. There were several of us who attended that afternoon. By the time we arrived however it was almost done. One of the Jesuits announced then that then Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel V. Ramos had broken away from the Marcos Regime and had holed up in Camp Aguinaldo. The entire assembly was abuzz.
I looked to my friends who were in the CAPM with me – Chim & Philip Sison, Jaime Garchitorena, Glenn and Jed Pantig, Bomboy Lim, and Eddie Macesar -- and posed a question: “What do we do?”
We were nervous. There were a number of college student leaders about and we all met outside. We decided to go home while some monitored the situation. We promised to keep in touch and round up others.
The dormers in the group went back to Cervini to change while the others went home. I waited for the dormers to change and we all left for my place which was near Camp Aguinaldo.
About an hour later, I got a call. There were to be several Ateneo stations around Camp Aguinaldo: one at Santolan, the second at Gate 5 along EDSA and the third along Ortigas Avenue corner EDSA. The one at Santolan and Ortigas would reinforce the people who had built barricades to prevent military units loyal to the government from proceeding to Camp Aguinaldo. The station in Gate 5 (where the waiting shed is located) was the food station where we would hand out foodstuffs to everyone helping out.
We changed into jeans, rubber shoes, and t-shirts. We brought some rope, flashlights, water, and bandages (just in case). None of us knew first aid. But what the heck?
The rope we used to cordon off the area and to make sure that people properly lined up for the food. If you ask me, I don’t even know how and where the food donations were coming from but they were pouring in. There were some 20 of us from school and there was no way we could handle it alone. Thankfully, many of those milling about EDSA volunteered to help. We set up a first aid station.
We all looked to the skies nervous that at any moment, helicopters might fly overhead and strafe us. Yet none of us left.
Some people began to tear down billboards and we had to stop them. It turned out that they wanted to use the material for a barricade. Someone said that was a good idea and said he’d be back with some sandbags. He lived in one of the nearby Greenhills villages and they were doing some landscaping and he had lots of earth and bags. About 30 minutes later, he returned with a van and parked at the Petron gas station across us. We then use whatever we had to create two barricades – one at the corner of White Plains Road where the People Power Monument now stands and the other at Gate 5.
You have to understand that EDSA was filled with people. Every one was helping one another out. We had lots of loaves of bread and palaman. We had a makeshift table where we put sandwich spread, cheez whiz, and others toppings on the bread. Someone brought pancit. At one time, there was some goto available as well (it went real fast). If the situation weren’t tense, I’d say we were smack in the middle of a fiesta.
Mind you we only controlled the food station. There were other groups. One gathered rocks and bottles filled with gasoline, nails, and stuff. Makeshift molotovs. Some had pipes and wooden bats.
We all hoped that it wouldn’t have to come to that.
It was around 1 am and I felt really really tired. It was cold that February night and we drew lots for those to get some sleep while the others manned the food and first aid stations. I remember lying down on the sidewalk looking up the stars. We were all wondering when the government troops would come charging through.
There were transistor radios and people were tuned in to Radio Veritas. None of us had brought jackets and we shivered in the cold. I eventually fell asleep but woke up four hours later for my shift. My back was stiff and sore. It was my first time to sleep on a sidewalk with only a cardboard box to serve as a bedding.
That first night that nothing happened only emboldened us. If the Marcos government wanted to crush the rebellion, they should have done it that first day. That gave everyone more time to rush help, supplies, and other forms of communication all around Camp Aguinaldo. That is what many people refer to as "a miracle."
We had done our fair amount of marching during those years. From Cubao to Welcome Rotonda to Luneta. There was another from Cubao to Mendiola. So walking the stretch of EDSA from Santolan to Ortigas didn’t seem that far the second time we traversed it. Why not when there were dozens of friends to keep everyone company.
Now there were lots of barriers that dotted the highway. We had two bicycles at the station. There really wasn’t much we could do with them since one couldn’t ride the bike while carrying foodstuffs. So we basically used them to relay information. On the second day, I used one to bike home for a shower and a hot meal. My classmates and schoolmates used our house as our fallback. My room became our room. Even if I was in EDSA, the others had free reign to go to the house to freshen up and get some rest and call their families.
Then one time we got word that the loyalist forces tear-gassed the barricade at Santolan while another convoy was on their way from Fort Bonifacio to Camp Aguinaldo via EDSA.
Word spread pretty quick and everyone was on the edge. I remember praying with a few schoolmates because we didn’t know what would happen. One classmate even prayed, “Lord, I don’t want to die yet because I’m still a virgin.”
We laughed nervously, finished our prayers then waited.
I remember in those early days of the CAPM when Mrs. Aquino refused to run for president. Incidentally there was only one head and it was Chino Roces and everyone else was in the Executive Committee. Us young bucks worked schools and the neighborhood. If anyone else says that they had a position then he is a liar. In the aftermath of EDSA, when government positions were being given to people, Cory said that the CAPM could avail themselves of positions in government. Roces said “No, thank you, Mrs. President but that is not why were formed the CAPM.” Of the Executive Committee, only one accepted a position. Task.Tsk. But before all that, Cory said that if they could produce one million signatures then she would run.
Wow. We went everywhere from Holy Cross Cemetery to Cubao to Ayala Avenue and of course Ateneo and UP. Mind you it was not an easy task to get people to sign as many were afraid that it would be used against them should Marcos fail to be dislodged. Even in school, it was hard to get people to sign but eventually all the CAPM people got it done. I remember meeting at the Quadrangle at the end of our first day and didn't have much -- 32 signatures? Know that people were saying, "Yes, we like Cory but how is she qualified?" But it snowballed after.
And those one million signatures were presented to Cory in Sto. Domingo Church where if I remember correctly, she announced her decision to run. Incidentally, those signatures in their booklets have all been saved and hopefully, we can do something proper with that.
Then we hit the campaign trail -- this weekend, I’ll have pics of those days scanned and post them – and it was a most exhilarating time. I previously mentioned some of the encounters we had with Metrocom cops (one in Cubao where we were putting up Cory posters at the wall around SM and another in San Juan near Wilson) but none yet with the military. Let me just say that I thought I’d see my life flash before me instead I saw Billy Idol on MTV.
While passing by EDSA today, I looked around and remembered those first few days of the People Power Revolution.
We had CMT that Saturday. Technically, I was exempted from CMT because I was on the track team but I still took it anyway because my friends were not. It was no big deal since I was Flight Sergeant for the Air Police and all we did was guard trees that were not going to run away. And it also allowed us to bring our small clubs when we went to the UAAP games then in case someone wanted to rumble.
Anyways after we were dismissed at 4pm, I went to the San Jose Seminary where there was some Jesuit event that was going on but for the life of me I cannot remember. There were several of us who attended that afternoon. By the time we arrived however it was almost done. One of the Jesuits announced then that then Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel V. Ramos had broken away from the Marcos Regime and had holed up in Camp Aguinaldo. The entire assembly was abuzz.
I looked to my friends who were in the CAPM with me – Chim & Philip Sison, Jaime Garchitorena, Glenn and Jed Pantig, Bomboy Lim, and Eddie Macesar -- and posed a question: “What do we do?”
We were nervous. There were a number of college student leaders about and we all met outside. We decided to go home while some monitored the situation. We promised to keep in touch and round up others.
The dormers in the group went back to Cervini to change while the others went home. I waited for the dormers to change and we all left for my place which was near Camp Aguinaldo.
About an hour later, I got a call. There were to be several Ateneo stations around Camp Aguinaldo: one at Santolan, the second at Gate 5 along EDSA and the third along Ortigas Avenue corner EDSA. The one at Santolan and Ortigas would reinforce the people who had built barricades to prevent military units loyal to the government from proceeding to Camp Aguinaldo. The station in Gate 5 (where the waiting shed is located) was the food station where we would hand out foodstuffs to everyone helping out.
We changed into jeans, rubber shoes, and t-shirts. We brought some rope, flashlights, water, and bandages (just in case). None of us knew first aid. But what the heck?
The rope we used to cordon off the area and to make sure that people properly lined up for the food. If you ask me, I don’t even know how and where the food donations were coming from but they were pouring in. There were some 20 of us from school and there was no way we could handle it alone. Thankfully, many of those milling about EDSA volunteered to help. We set up a first aid station.
We all looked to the skies nervous that at any moment, helicopters might fly overhead and strafe us. Yet none of us left.
Some people began to tear down billboards and we had to stop them. It turned out that they wanted to use the material for a barricade. Someone said that was a good idea and said he’d be back with some sandbags. He lived in one of the nearby Greenhills villages and they were doing some landscaping and he had lots of earth and bags. About 30 minutes later, he returned with a van and parked at the Petron gas station across us. We then use whatever we had to create two barricades – one at the corner of White Plains Road where the People Power Monument now stands and the other at Gate 5.
You have to understand that EDSA was filled with people. Every one was helping one another out. We had lots of loaves of bread and palaman. We had a makeshift table where we put sandwich spread, cheez whiz, and others toppings on the bread. Someone brought pancit. At one time, there was some goto available as well (it went real fast). If the situation weren’t tense, I’d say we were smack in the middle of a fiesta.
Mind you we only controlled the food station. There were other groups. One gathered rocks and bottles filled with gasoline, nails, and stuff. Makeshift molotovs. Some had pipes and wooden bats.
We all hoped that it wouldn’t have to come to that.
It was around 1 am and I felt really really tired. It was cold that February night and we drew lots for those to get some sleep while the others manned the food and first aid stations. I remember lying down on the sidewalk looking up the stars. We were all wondering when the government troops would come charging through.
There were transistor radios and people were tuned in to Radio Veritas. None of us had brought jackets and we shivered in the cold. I eventually fell asleep but woke up four hours later for my shift. My back was stiff and sore. It was my first time to sleep on a sidewalk with only a cardboard box to serve as a bedding.
That first night that nothing happened only emboldened us. If the Marcos government wanted to crush the rebellion, they should have done it that first day. That gave everyone more time to rush help, supplies, and other forms of communication all around Camp Aguinaldo. That is what many people refer to as "a miracle."
We had done our fair amount of marching during those years. From Cubao to Welcome Rotonda to Luneta. There was another from Cubao to Mendiola. So walking the stretch of EDSA from Santolan to Ortigas didn’t seem that far the second time we traversed it. Why not when there were dozens of friends to keep everyone company.
Now there were lots of barriers that dotted the highway. We had two bicycles at the station. There really wasn’t much we could do with them since one couldn’t ride the bike while carrying foodstuffs. So we basically used them to relay information. On the second day, I used one to bike home for a shower and a hot meal. My classmates and schoolmates used our house as our fallback. My room became our room. Even if I was in EDSA, the others had free reign to go to the house to freshen up and get some rest and call their families.
Then one time we got word that the loyalist forces tear-gassed the barricade at Santolan while another convoy was on their way from Fort Bonifacio to Camp Aguinaldo via EDSA.
Word spread pretty quick and everyone was on the edge. I remember praying with a few schoolmates because we didn’t know what would happen. One classmate even prayed, “Lord, I don’t want to die yet because I’m still a virgin.”
We laughed nervously, finished our prayers then waited.
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