Tatlong araw. Sa ilalim ng ulan sa una, at matinding sikat ng araw sa dalawa pa. It started at the People Power Monument on EDSA, then moved to Liwasang Bonifacio when, at the last minute, binawi ang permit. Thousands of Filipinos gathered. Some residents from provinces commuted all the way to Manila just to stand there. On the same ground: rain, heat, exhaustion, discomfort. Mas dadami pa sana, pero hinaharang na sa daan ang mga papunta pa.
Hindi ko na muna isusulat ang tema ng rally lalo na’t naglabasan ang mga marurunong at nagmamarunong sa panahon ngayon.
What I want to talk about is what they faced. Nakisalamuha at nakipagharapan sa mga kapulisan. May mga naaresto pa. Maaaring may nasugatan, nasaktan at nagkapasa. Walang electric fan, walang aircon, walang malalambot na higaan. Nagpaka-boy scout ang ibang pamilya, nagdala ng tent. Pero ang higaan, matigas na konkreto o lupa pa rin. Bread and water they brought themselves. Suwerte na lang kung nakakuha sila ng libreng pagkain na ipinamudmod doon.
And through all of it, they did not back down.
While they stood there, bumabaha ng insulto sa social media. They were called blind followers. Some said they were being used, just instruments in a fight that was not really theirs. Called selfish, dahil sa traffic at abala. Na wala daw silang pakialam sa mga manggagawa. Some insults went after their faith itself, things too low, too below-the-belt to repeat here. Surprisingly, even the ones who call themselves cultured and educated took a dig at them. Mocked them.
Columnists took shots. So did the comment sections on Facebook and Twitter, and the groups who opposed them standing on EDSA, na wala raw silang karapatang tumayo roon.
They said EDSA was being turned into political cover. Said that ground should not be used to shield anyone. But should the conversation stop there? Why go after the ordinary people who chose to stand there, the grandparents, the families, the students, the workers who gave up three days of their lives on their own?
Because here is the thing. Whatever your politics, whatever side you are on, you cannot deny one fact: they stood their ground. They did not go home at the first drop of rain. They did not retreat at the first insult. They were not scared off by the police, the columnists, the netizens, everyone throwing stones at them. Three days they stood, and for those three days, they were, in my view, the bravest rallyists this country has ever seen.
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It takes guts to stand in front of that much anger, and not everyone has it in them. With all the keyboard armies of those in power, they only have God with them.
There is no immediate result to show for it now. The case against Senator Rodante Marcoleta moves on. Traffic on EDSA is back to normal. Life goes on. To many, it probably looks like nothing happened, nothing changed. Maybe it even feels like a waste, all that rain, all that heat, all those insults from every direction, for a case that has not moved an inch.
But...
When Bro. Edwil Zabala, the INC spokesperson, stepped up to close the rally at Liwasang Bonifacio, he did not, in any way, sound like a man in retreat.
“We believe that we have clearly conveyed our message to the concerned officials,” he said. “We hope for God for justice to prevail in this country, and not for those who bend the law for their own benefit.”
“Huwag magtagumpay ang sinumang bumaluktot ng batas para lamang sa kanilang makasariling kapakanan kahit na ikapariwara ng ating bansa.”
Then, before sending three days’ worth of exhausted people home, he said something very tender:
“This is where we end our peaceful rally. I hope that you will get home the same way you arrived here, peacefully.”
Hindi nagtaas ng kamay sa ere. Hindi tumira sa mga kritiko. Just a warning to the guilty, and a plea for a safe trip home.
Pero ito ang tiyak ko na mangyayari.
Uulan at uulan. At kasabay ng ulan ang matinding pagbaha. Ang ulan at baha, walang pinipili, mayaman at mahirap, INC man o hindi. Tatangayin ka o ang iyong ari-arian sa putik o sa basura. Kung sinuman ang dapat managot sa katiwalian, madaratnan ng pag-ulan at pagbaha.
At sa pagtila ng ulan at sa pagbaba ng baha, tatambad na muli ang katotohanan.
Maybe not today. But it will come.
And no matter what else is said about the Filipinos who were there, no matter how many more insults get thrown their way, one thing cannot be erased: they were there. They stood in the rain, in the heat, against the anger of an entire country, for what they believed in.
That is the mark they left on EDSA and on Liwasang Bonifacio, and that is what will be remembered—not the criticism, not the insults, but the fact that they stood.
Not only for themselves. They stood for every Filipino. For the Philippines.
At sa kasunod na pagbaha, maaalala natin sila.
And that is the bald truth here.
