02 March 2015 – The Philippine Consulate General in Agana commemorated the 29th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution by organizing, in cooperation with the University of Guam’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS), a panel discussion entitled “EDSA IN RETROSPECT” on February 24 at the CLASS Lecture Hall. The event was included in the UOG CLASS Colloquium series.
The panel discussion opened with welcome remarks delivered by Dr. James D. Sellmann, Dean of the host college. In his opening remarks that followed, Consul General Marciano R. de Borja noted how the peaceful and bloodless revolution of 29 years ago had restored freedom and democracy and became a harbinger of similar movements around the world. He, however, said that the marked difference between EDSA and later freedom uprisings was that it was only the ouster of Marcos that succeeded without significant bloodshed or loss of life.
“In other places, the military and security services had no compunction shooting at ordinary civilians. However, the soldiers at EDSA held back after seeing their fellow Filipinos offering flowers and food. It may be easier to shoot at crowds throwing stones at you, but at EDSA no one cast any stones against the armed soldiers. Instead, they were met with pleas for unity and compassion,” Consul General de Borja said in his remarks.
To set the tone for the panel discussion, video footage of the report filed by Jim Laurie on ABC News of the events leading up to the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986 was shown.
The EDSA 29 panel discussion was highlighted by the personal narratives of five different eyewitnesses to the historic events of February 1986. The first to speak was Ms. MarVic Cagurangan, now a managing editor and columnist of Marianas Variety Guam and Sunday Variety. She was a philosophy student at the University of Santo Tomas during the time of the revolution and she recalled how the pivotal events marked her political coming of age.
Two of the panellists were then students at the University of the Philippines, namely, Dr. Annette David, who is now an internist and board certified Occupational and Environmental Medicine specialist, and Consul Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian. While Dr. David had already completed her medical studies at the UP College of Medicine when the EDSA People Power Revolution happened, Consul Auxilian was a graduate student at the UP College of Public Administration.
Sister Maria Rosario Gaite, RSM, who now is the Vice Principal of Santa Barbara Catholic School and Vocation Director of the Sisters of Mercy in Guam, was a college student at the Ateneo de Manila University and a member of the Ateneo Glee Club at the time of the revolution when she trooped to EDSA and camped there with her fellow classmates.
Lastly, Dr. Donald Platt, a Professor of History at the University of Guam, was not physically present in the Philippines during the revolution but had earlier completed his undergraduate degree in history at the University of the Philippines at the height of martial law years. He reminisced about the emotional celebration he hosted for Filipinos who were fellow graduate students at the University of Toledo, and which was capped with a spirited rendition of Bayan Ko, one of the recognized anthems of the revolution.
Whatever experiences they may have had, EDSA 1986 was a singular moment in Philippine history that brought Filipinos together to achieve a common goal; a revolution that made history all around the world and inspired other countries to carry out their own struggle to upend political structures that stifled freedom and basic human rights.
An open forum followed the panel discussion. Some of the audience members shared their experiences during the 1986 EDSA revolution like Ms. Lea Santos, who was a former employee of the local government ministry, and Ms. Elizabeth Cena, a former GSIS employee.
After the panel discussion, all the guests were invited to partake of the traditional afternoon merienda at the foyer of the Lecture Hall where a small photo display on the EDSA People Power Revolution was also featured.
The event was attended by Dr. Robert Underwood, President of the University of Guam; Chief Justice Robert J. Torres; and Senator Nerissa Bretania Underwood, Ph.D., Senator Thomas C. Ada, Senator Mary Camacho Torres, and Senator Frank B. Aguon, Jr. of the 33rd Guam Legislature. Officers and members of the different Filipino organizations in Guam, media representatives, professors and students of the University of Guam, as well as a delegation from the Philippine Army was in the island under their cooperation program with the Guam National Guard, were also part of the near-full capacity crowd. END