EDSA Revolution...

What is EDSA? where does the word EDSA came from? So in the next paragraph you'll know what is
EDSA all about.

The People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of
1986) was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that began in 1983 and culminated in
1986. The methods used amounted to a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence
and electoral fraud. This case of nonviolent revolution led to the departure of President Ferdinand
Marcos and the restoration of the country's democracy. It is also referred to as the Yellow
Revolution due to the presence of yellow ribbons during the demonstrations following the assassination
of Benigno Aquino, Jr.. It was widely seen as a victory of the people against the 20-year
running authoritarian, repressive regime of then president Ferdinand Marcos and made news headlines
as "the revolution that surprised the world".The majority of the demonstrations took place on a long
stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, more commonly known by its acronym EDSA, inMetropolitan
Manila from February 2225, 1986 and involved over two million Filipino civilians as well as several
political, military, and including religious groups led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the Archbishop of Manila.

The EDSA Revolution may refer to one of three events in Philippine history referring to popular political
upheavals occurring on the EDSA highway:

EDSA I or the People Power Revolution of 1986, commonly known as the EDSA Revolution, that toppled
dictator and President Ferdinand Marcos after alleged cheating in the presidential election. EDSA II or
the EDSA Revolution of 2001 that toppled President Joseph Estrada after an aborted impeachment trial
EDSA III also in 2001 that climaxed a failed siege of the presidential palace. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
remained in office after the arrest of Joseph Estrada.

Marcos is hailed as the one who built massive infrastructure projects and rebuilt the economy; he is also
the one who turned back the communists at the gates of Malacanang by declaring Martial Law. In
addition, Marcos is portrayed as a close friend of oppositionist Benigno Ninoy Aquino Jr., whom he
jailed during Martial Law. In fact, this version says, Marcos and Ninoy would even chat with each other
using scrambler telephones. As such, Marcos could never have ordered Ninoys assassination.

As the nation marks the 26th anniversary of what the world has come to know as the People Power
Revolution, young Filipinos who never experienced the events of February 1986 are left wondering again
what all the ruckus is about. But what is most striking is the fact that this alternate version of the story is
one that more and more young Filipinos are tuning into and apparently identifying with and liking.

This new version of the People Power story is being told over the Internet through social media sites, in
a nine and a half minute video that seems like a cross between the Angry Birds game and the movie
Gladiator, with heart-pounding music, bold primary colors, and moving graphics, yet with simple lines
of text that are well attuned to what one viewer calls the Power point generation.

Hidden truths?
Titled Ninoy + People Power: Hidden Truths the Media is not Telling Us!, the video began gaining
popularity in YouTube by the middle of last year and has since become viral. It has appeared or has been
reposted in numerous websites and YouTube channels, and pops up repeatedly in FaceBook.

The videos creator, who calls himself Baron Buchokoy, maintains a YouTube channel called Pinoy
Monkey Pride. As of mid-February, the video that was posted in Buchokoys YouTube account in June
2011 already has more than 200,000 views. Buchokoy implies that the video has had more views, saying
that the video in fact was just re-uploaded since the powers that be hacked and removed it recently
from YouTube.

This is proof, Buchokoy says in his introduction to the YouTube video, that someone or some group is
trying to hide the truth.

Please spread the message, he adds. Marcos is the least suspect in the Ninoy assassination and that
only 2% of the 1986 Philippine population attended EDSA People Power. Lets end Filipino ignorance. It
ends now.

IN THE past, such assertions had merely been dismissed as rumblings of Marcos sympathizers keen on
putting their own spin into the history books to rehabilitate a fallen icon.

The points are not very new, says Mon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and
Economic Reform (IPER). These came out immediately after the assassination of Ninoy and right after
EDSA 1.

All these arguments were made by Marcos-aligned groups, Casiple says. It is a mixture of truth, lies,
omissions, and, of course, a little bit of popular handling.

That falsification or distortion of history may go some length, but it is like you can change the
perception of Hitler and the Nazi regime, comments Rene Saguisag, former spokesman of then
President Corazon Aquino. You saw the human rights violations and the plunder committed by the
Marcoses during their merciless martial rule.
Old version, new traction
But if the number of views and the lively and passionate comments on YouTube are to be any indication,
this new old version appears to be gaining traction with the youth. Too, the video is told in the
language and the pace of the Net and video generation, something that neither pro-EDSA nor pro-
Marcos proponents were able to maximize before.

Its effective, says 20-year-old Darlene Basingan, a PCIJ intern from De La Salle University in Cavite,
after watching Buchokoys video. Marcos was portrayed very negatively in the stories I had heard about
EDSA. So I wondered if it could be true that everything about Cory was positive. Now I have been
enlightened as to the truth after watching this video.

She says Marcos wasnt all negative during the uprising. Hindi naman pala niya gusto atakihin ang
mga tao (He didnt want to attack the people).

This should be viewed by the youth, says Basingan. I suppose everything said here is true, based on
facts, and not just someones imagination. If that is the case, this should be seen by other youth so they
can have a bigger perspective of People Power.

This is the only time I learned about this, says JB, a sophomore computer science major. I had never
seen or heard about these things in any documentary. Not everything we heard about EDSA was true.

In Buchokoys YouTube account, a post by MrLangam read, I used to be fooled by our history teacher
using a false book.

The only thing I can say is that this country needs a new Marcos, and history needs some revision, said
Maimiewow.

I cried after watching this video this country is dying, said Dyna1226. Like a patient with cancer
stage4.

Meanwhile, anelio21 said, Dami na nating nagising na mga Filipino dahil sa video na ito. Maraming
salamat sa gumawa nito (There are a lot of us who were awakened with this video. Thank you to the one
who made this.).

Yet while the comments were overwhelmingly in favor of the video and its message, not everyone has
been a happy fan. Said genocide222: Most people who are commenting here are probably too young to
really know what happened so please just dont comment. Cory had a country that were in ruins in
every aspect and was destined to fail, Marcos on the other hand came in with an economy that was one
of the best in Asia and he just built on that, and he did a good job on that. I just think he became
obsessed with the idea that he is the savior? of the country and did not want to let go. Thats why he
was threatened by Ninoy.