“It reaffirmed that we, the people, have the power.”
Ito ang binigyang-diin ni Senador Risa Hontiveros nitong Sabado, Pebrero 25, kasabay ng kaniyang pagbabalik-tanaw sa kaniyang naging pakikiisa sa EDSA People Power Revolution noong taong 1986.
Sa kaniyang pahayag, ibinahagi ni Hontiveros kung gaano naging mas malala umano ang estado ng ekonomiya at politika ng bansa noong panahon ng Martial Law.
“Martial Law was officially lifted in 1981 but there was still a shared despair, an acute realization that the country’s social, economic, and political atmosphere was deeply and systematically changed for the worse; that it could take decades, generations, and lifetimes, for our nation to truly heal and recover, not just from billions of pesos in debt, but from intergenerational injustice and trauma,” ani Hontiveros.
“By 1986, it was clear that the Filipino people had had enough,” dagdag niya.
Nasa kolehiyo at 20-anyos daw ang senador nang magsimulang magsagawa ng kilos-protesta ang mga Pilipino sa EDSA na siyang nilahukan niya noong Pebrero 22 hanggang 25, 1986.
Sa hiwalay na post, nagbahagi rin si Hontiveros ng kaniyang larawan bilang Internal Vice President sa Ateneo Sanggunian Central Board noong isinasagawa nila ang EDSA People Power Revolution.
“For four days, we prayed, sang, and chanted,” pagbabalik-tanaw ni Hontiveros. “I saw with my own eyes how the collective spirit of a nation, how the better angels of our nature can topple tyrants and their ilk.”
“It was momentous. It proved that our democracy was still ours,” saad niya.
“It reaffirmed that we, the people, have the power. ”