Flowers, Guns and Rosaries (EDSA 1986)

February 25 is when the whole Philippines celebrates ‘EDSA’, an event in 1986 wherein a bloody civil war almost occurred. In a nutshell: disillusioned soldiers joined forces with leaders, who have become the government’s political enemies, in two military camps along the EDSA highway, in Metro Manila.

Government troupes marched to the two camps, armed to the teeth with tanks and guns, and prepared to assault the rebels until they surrendered. But they were greeted with one million or so Filipinos (men, women and children) who offered food, flowers and rosaries to the armed forces, in the hope of preventing a bloody exchange.

Many sources have cited the leaders and the masses who participated in the rally as the ‘heroes of EDSA’, but I see things differently. For me, the real heroes are the soldiers themselves. If they were less the men that they are, they would have dispersed this crowd coldly and methodically, as mandated by their commanders.

It is the Filipino attitude of tenderness towards old folks, women and children that prevented the bloody civil war from happening, and no amount of political talk will sway me from that view.

In the end, these soldiers, like most of the citizens of this poor, third world country, started life as kids who were raised to fear God and respect women. Amidst the confusion and the tension of the ‘People’s Revolution’ in 1986, they still couldn’t bring themselves to shoot unarmed nuns, mothers and young girls holding nothing else but bread, rosaries and flowers.

Other countries tried to replicate EDSA, because such a precedence cannot be ignored, but these attempts failed because they did not consider over-all national disposition as a variable in the equation. We are good-hearted people, we are hard workers… and we deserve a better government.

As a sidenote: this was also the year that a Filipino president (Corazon Aquino) was allowed to take the stage during a joint session of the US congress. I was the 6-year-old girl who watched the coverage on TV and asked her grandma “Why is the Philippines valuable to the USA? We are so small, and they’re so big!”

My wise grandma told me a truth I keep in my mind ’til now. She said, “If war ever broke out in Asia again, the Philippines is the most strategically valuable place to put up US bases. And, we probably will be the only country in southeast Asia who will allow them to freely bring their nuclear weapons, because we are hospitable to foreigners.”

Sources: Simply Immaculate, Wiki

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If you are a high school or elementary student wanting to use this article for your homework, please paraphrase nicely so that your teacher (who could be reading my blog also) will not think you plagiarized.