The millennials: Pure energy at rally
Now a couch potato, I turned on the TV to the Nov. 30 rally. I caught the priests, bishops, and the Cardinal on stage. I recalled the day when I told a former student priest of mine, ang kaparian natin ay dapat nang manindigan (Our priests should now take a stand). And he answered, hindi sila naninindigan, naninimbang ho (They are not taking a stand, they are still weighing things).
Touché! But at last, here they were, doing more than just ringing the bells. Naninindigan na (They are now taking a stand) in public.
There were Bishops Elias Ayuban of Cubao, Mylo Vergara of Pasig, Eugenius Cañete of Gumaca, Quezon, Colins Bagaporo of Kidapawan, Dave Capucao of Infanta, Quezon. And in and out of sight were Fathers Robert Reyes and Flavie Villanueva.
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David was forceful but subdued throughout his message in his characteristic manner; rejecting any takeover of government [by] military or civilian. But when, at his last sentence, he broke out, visibly angry at government, I was jubilant. Magtrabaho naman kayo! (Please do your jobs!) The crowd roared. How can the Church keep the light of such priests under a bushel?
At 3 p.m., I caught the program at the Edsa People Power Monument, ending past 7 p.m. with the descending darkness. “Put on the lights of your cell phones”, the emcee said. Yes, the sight of gently moving lights was dramatic.
From start to finish, from emcee to performers, the program was pure energy, piercing my TV screen! There was banter about “balde” (pails). They should have given us many pails to scoop the floodwaters (“daan-daang balde para salukin ang tubig-baha”). The songs they sang and the instruments they played on could be deafening to me, who was brought up on the gentler sounds of piano and melody.
And mea culpa for the low esteem I have had for beauty queens. Catriona Gray led the crowd through a very relevant examination of conscience. Aren’t we part of the problem and therefore should be part of the solution? Returnees “after 40 years” were singers Mitch Valdez and Celeste Legaspi. Any time I was expecting Leah Navarro to walk in and lead the crowd in the uplifting signature song of Edsa- “Magkaisa.”
But this was an angry crowd, have no doubt. The calls at regular intervals throughout the program of “Ikulong ang magnanakaw, ibalik ang pera! (Jail the thieves, return the money!)” was a steady, swelling scream of anger. My 93-year-old heart could have collapsed at any point in that sustained outrage. Kudos to Kiko Aquino Dee and all the organizers.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must realize that he has barely escaped the outrage. He must thank sober minds who take constitutional constraints seriously. He has been spared from being sucked into the flood tide of the people’s outrage. Wouldn’t that be ironic?
Also, Marcos Jr. is still saddled with a heavy burden inherited from his father—a booty so heavy, of money, jewels, art objects; a heavy tax debt; plus the horrible part of the Marcos debt—violence against life, imprisonment, torture, “salvaging”, disappearance; and—the culture of corruption bequeathed by his father, that has seeped through the entire government structure and bureaucracy from top to bottom; and sadly to the people whose acceptance level has become very high—precisely what we are fighting now.
Are there admission and restitution in view?
Rally fatigue? Uh, uh; not allowed. What? Ningas cogon again? Dear Millennials and Gen Zs—hackneyed but true. You are the hope of the nation. Not hackneyed but also true. You are the hope of 2028—you make the biggest voting bloc with 63 percent of voters translating to 44 million votes.
EDSA IV—here we come?!
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Asuncion David Maramba is a retired professor and book editor; columnist since 1984 and contributor to the Inquirer from 1992 to 2000. The urge to write about a re-awakening of resistance was irresistible.
