03 March 2014 - It was an evening of recollection, profound conversation, and insightful music and performance at the 28th EDSA Revolution Anniversary celebration organized by the Philippine Consulate General New York last February 25 at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center.
Philippine Consul General in New York Mario De Leon, Jr. welcomed the audience with some of his thoughts on the People Power Revolution, which put the Philippines in the history books as the first country to use peaceful revolt to unseat a dictatorship and restore democracy to the land. He underscored the theme of the year’s celebration, “Kapit-bisig tungo sa pagbabago”, translated in English as “locked in arms towards progress”, and urged the community to keep the spirit of EDSA alive and work together towards freedom from injustice, oppression and poverty. He highlighted the strength of coming together as a community, and cited the developments on the Consulate General’s Build A Shelter Project, a partnership with Gawad Kalinga and Philippine Jesuit Foundation (through Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan in the Philippines) which has so far finalized plans for construction of two villages in Eastern Samar, benefitting some 60 families in the towns affected by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
Dr. Mario Bucal, a retired physician and close friend of the Aquino family in Boston shared personal accounts and recounted their time together while former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was in exile between 1980 and1983. He spoke of their leisure time and the milestones in their children’s lives. He also shared Ninoy’s insights about politics, the Philippine government and the common sentiment about the leadership of then President Ferdinand Marcos. He considered himself one of Ninoy’s close confidantes and one of the few people who saw Ninoy off before he returned to the Philippines on that fateful day in August 1983.
After his talk, Dr. Bucal shared a documentary by Howie Severino called “1983” to the audience. A retrospective on the seldom-seen side of Ninoy featured recollections of sisters Ballsy and Kris Aquino, some of their family friends in Boston including Dr. Bucal and his wife Norma, and his peers at Harvard University. The 26-minute video revealed Ninoy as the soft-hearted father figure and loyal friend, Cory his wife as the handyman around the house, and their barkada in Boston as the patriots longing for their motherland. In the documentary, his colleagues at the Harvard University described Ninoy as a standout among a distinguished group of intellectuals and a humble and loyal citizen.
A musical sketch followed with the actors of the hit off-Broadway show “Here Lies Love”, a musical-dance production exploring the life of Imelda Marcos, from her ascent to power and downfall of the Marcos regime which culminates in the People Power Revolution. Jaygee Macapugay, who plays the lead role and Conrad Ricamora, who plays the role of Ninoy Aquino sang “Seven Years”, depicting the tug-of-war of emotions with Imelda warning Ninoy in the end to never come back to the Philippines if he wants to live. Conrad then recited the speech that Ninoy Aquino originally gave in front of the Asia Society in New York where he uttered the line, “The Filipino is worth dying for.” For the finale, cast members Renee Albulario and Kevin Moon Loh sang together the People Power ode “God Draws Straight”, also from the David Byrne and Fatboy Slim musical.
The audience was encouraged to ask questions and interact with the speaker, Dr. Bucal, at the open forum. Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Libran Cabactulan and Consul General Mario De Leon, Jr. joined him in the panel. Vice Consul Khrystina Corpuz served as the forum’s moderator and the event’s master of ceremonies. History scholars and professors were interested to learn about Ninoy’s frame of mind before his flight back to the Philippines, and the second generation youth were curious about what the country should be fighting for now that the Philippines has attained freedom from dictatorship. END