At the People Power Monument: Anti-Marcos protesters have become a laughingstock

people_power_monument

You gotta give credit to the anti-Marcos mob. They came back in their thousand-odd force, this time at the “People Power Monument” on EDSA at its intersection with Temple Drive outside Camp Aguinaldo today. Amongst those leading the charge (so they claim) are representatives of the “Big Three” elite Philippine schools, the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, and the Ateneo. There is much back-patting amongst the so-called “millenials” who supposedly came out in droves today to protest the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).

I may as well ask as an aside: How sosyal do you have to be to be referred to as a “millenial”?

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Perhaps this is the reason that very important measure of the success of a street rally — the numbers — can’t seem to hit the mark as far as the anti-Marcos mob is concerned. A post on Facebook by Bruce Villafuerte Rivera captures the underlying sociological reason behind the consistent failure of the anti-Marcos “movement” of the 21st Century. Villafuerte reminds these “millenials” (as defined by the obvious answer to the question above) that there is this inconvenient thing called the Philippines that exists outside of the bubble they have cloistered themselves in…

You justify corruption, immorality, oppression because you benefit from the people doing it but will be the same self-righteous pricks to shout against it if you feel others are doing it. And the double standard sickens me.

The rich do not feel the gains of this administration because to the bubble of Metro Manila, it is all discomfort. They will not feel the drop in criminality kasi walang snatcher sa Forbes Park. They will not feel efficient governance kasi may pumipila sa kanila para kumuha ng lisensya sa LTO. They will not feel the good effects of lowered corruption kasi kahit nung una, priority sila sa infrastructure. They will not notice how ordinary citizens feel special because they are now the ones who are taken in the same genus as ordinary citizens.

But to ordinary Filipinos, this is something new. And they are the majority. Ordinary citizens who cannot afford to control a media company, influence people, create powerful organizations or lobby to hate. But we can feel their pulse. They are no longer buying all the information you were once feeding them.

You see, the trouble with Philippine “activism” nowadays is that it has been gentrified beyond recognition. It is no longer the gritty molotov-cocktail-fuelled badass undertaking it used to be. The “revolution” of 1986 and those lame knock-offs that followed it transformed the notion of street parliamentarianism in the Philippines into one of quaint outdoor soirées moving to the soft beat of wistful emo ballads filled with words that invoke rich imagery of “fights” yet come across as nothing like the battle hymns their lyricists fancy them to be. Looking from the outside into that bubble, most ordinary Filipinos can’t help but laugh.

The biggest irony of all — one that we see today flies way above the pointed heads of these impressionable youths — is that the political forces and personalities they “battle” are direct outcomes of the very democracy they believe themselves to be “defending” in these rallies. There is no democracy being destroyed here, folks. The things happening today in the Philippines are proof that democracy is at work. It is because these products of democracy just happen to now offend the disente sensibilities of these hipsters that we now see them coming down from the proverbial hill and out of their tony enclaves in droves to make baka.

Democracy, might we remind the little kiddies and fashionistas, is a messy system of government. The “will of the people” is a double-edged sword. Handling this sytem is best left to the grown ups.

[Photo source: ABS-CBN on Twitter.]

56 Replies to “At the People Power Monument: Anti-Marcos protesters have become a laughingstock”

  1. The EDSA Shrine is the Shrine of Idiocy. These students were not even born during the Marcos era. The EDSA revolution is not a revolution. It was a coup d’etat by Enrile, Ramos, Honasan, the U.S./C.I.A. and the U.S. Dept of State.

    It was like what is happening to Syria’s Pres. Bashar Al Assad. Only this time, the U.S./CIA , and the U.S. Dept. of State were not successful in removing Pres. Assad.

    These millennials should concentrate on their studies. Demonstrating and shouting are just a waste of time. They are being used by self serving politicians, who have a hidden political agendas of their own…and they are too stupid to know it !

    1. And you sir, should go back and relearn your history.
      You know that the world is round,right? Did you live during the time of Pythagoras? Ahhh you’re so shallow I don’t think you even know who Pythagoras was?

      1. YellowTard Crybaby…Pres. Elect Trump is not interested in the Philippines. He is not interested in medling in other countries…

        Another brainwashed Yellowtard …poor fellow ! Philippine history taught in schools are the propaganda media of the Aquino Cojuangco propaganda machine.
        They made themselves heroes and saints !

        In truth, they are thieves !

        1. funny how the burial of marcos becomes right because our favorite president favors it. think about it. just how many did this move offend, and why? and the only defense the apathetic mass could come up, is that these protesters are not even martial law victims? apathy at its finest.

      2. @chem your argument is worth gold!
        pythagoras was the guy who made that theorem about right triangle sides, squares, square roots and shit.
        now i am officially qualified to kick your ass for trying to pull off a red herring coated in argumentum ad ignoratiam dipped in non sequitur.

        1. To think Erap has a criminal conviction, which oughta make him worse than (some of) our presidents post-Marcos.

      3. And you, son, are an actual TROLL. Thanks for proving to us that you’re just all crap and no substance kind of an idiot. 😛

    2. You really hit the nail right on the head. These millenials are a bunch of gullible hypocrites being used by power-hungry Liberal Party

  2. I’d like to see these morons deal with PRO-Duterte and PRO-Marcos rallyists for a change. Then we’ll see just how that “sigaw ng bayan” bullshit they keep on chanting will translate to reality.

    1. if you put the Duterte supporters these Yaya-fed brats nose to nose it is a no contest. They cannot really make “baka” like they try to appear to.

        1. And these yaya’s are the Yellow Media & Journalists by cut/edit/paste misleading information.

          Their Parent’s giving them allowances are the Yellow Cult Party and Oligarch alliances et’al.

    2. Ya because cut supporters are the thugs of Philippines. All muscles n no brains. Peso is now 51.everything is going up 10% in anotheranother 2 months or so. Don’t blame oligarchs this time.

      1. Didn’t know Carlos Celdran Economic 101 is an elective in a lot of these Ivory Tower schools. If you are the example of the “brains” around here we truly are doomed.

  3. who remembers when marcos flee from malacanang, that early morning channel 4 broadcast live on tv along dewey blvd 6 military trucks full of crates loaded with US dollars from the central bank was intercepted by the yellow army. it was live on tv. now, is that the billions of US dollars they’re saying Marcos stole? where is it now? where is that recorded video?

  4. These anti marcos crowd have actually lost their relevance. A repeat of ‘people power’, so they say. Is this deja vu? their slogans then was directed to a living person, now to a man buried six feet underground! Do they expect him to rise from the dead? Ha!

    these gen exers, senior citizens now, should fight their own battles! You had 30 years, and you’re still at it. You rally the millenials, yes, mostly from elite schools, for what? For your cause? Just to make you relevant?

    We , the common tao, the ordinary folks , who go through each day trying to make a living, have grown tired of all these rallies. It’s only their interests that are served.

    1. The unfortunate thing is: who profited from the EDSA coup d’ etat in 1986 ?

      It was the Aquino Cojuangco family; their Feudal Oligarchs partners; the political opportunists; the Drug Lords; Shabu Drug Queens, like Leila de Lima;etc…

      Who did the shouting and the threat of being killed in the EDSA coup d’ etat?

      The “Hakot Demonstrators”, and those who followed them blindly.

      Did it improved their lives ? Maybe, by being part of the YellowTard government. Some did stealing from the government. Some resorted to extortion, like Laglag Bala. Some became Shabu Drug dealers and Shabu Drug Traffickers…

      Did it improved the country, and us as a whole ? Definitely, NO ! Most are living below poverty line. Some, like me, became OFW, economic refugees !

      1. Who is profiting from Duterte admin? The holy evil family of the house of thieves, and of course, Cuts himself with 2 billion pesos in BPI.

        1. Please, you’re now vehemently exposed, son. My advice: stop being a whiny, pathetic, butthurt kid and set your priorities for once. You’re not actually helping.

  5. do the philippines need to revise/amend the constitution? or just switch to federalism? this is the time citizens should participate they’re the one to choose not the politicians.

    1. That federalism talk came to mind as this pala-pala kids do their hukay protest. I was waiting for someone to actually show the illegality of the burial or protest the constitution because that’s the only way for them to unbury the dead if they can win it. All these nonsense protest will give you the feeling that it’s better to live anywhere else in the country but in Imperial Manila, where people fight against criminality and poverty, and see what these “millennials” can really do if they are left to their obsession on historical slavery and backward mindset in their modern disoriented, criminal and oligarchy-infested city.

      1. i just don’t know what’s in the mind of those pilipinos. they’re making their own heroes 19 personalities all know communist lean who wants to take over the republic during marcos time. and now they’re heroes and martyrs? marcos just did the right decision against communism. anyway who do they want to be a hero other than marcos?

    2. Change to constitutional monarchy. Crown Imee our first Queen.
      Hail Queen Mary. With her stolen wealth she can have a crown studded with so much diamonds QueenElizabeth of HK would envy. That will make us so proud.
      Duts is just her running dog. If he barks, just throw another billion peso into his BPI account.

      1. Son, you’re so damn hilarious. That’s some high level of autism right there.

        Posts like this tells me that you’re actually butthurt. Keep doing that in order to expose you even more. :^)

  6. It is a simple but sometimes forgotten truth that the greatest enemy to present joy and high hopes is the cultivation of retrospective bitterness.

  7. Talking about Marcos seems like walking on eggshells, though it depends on the site whether you’ll be burned or praised from what you say.

    I don’t think it’s a secret that GRP is supportive of Marcos, so arguments for the family are favorable here and arguments against them are scrutinized. Of course it’s rather the opposite for yellow leaning sites like Inquirer, and I’ve had my fill of profanities there for NOT speaking ill of Marcos.

    But here I would like to ask, does GRP legitimately think of the late Ferdinand Marcos as a hero?

    After all, his achievements on infrastructure is better than recent presidents combined, besides many things he has done that the yellow camp NEVER acknowledges. But then again, he has allowed numerous human rights violations unchecked, torturing of rebels and insurgents may be a bit too much if he wants to “make an example” out of them, in which most of the Pro-Marcoses don’t seem to acknowledge as well.

    How about the alleged stolen riches? Are they all propaganda perpetrated by the yellow camp? Their “accusations” are apparently “backed” by international sources. How does the pro camp explain their wealth to counter the “ill-gotten” allegations? I have seen an explanation that tells Marcos’ lawyer services that awarded him metric tons of Gold as a sort of payment for his services by really wealthy clients. If this is indeed true, why not gather evidence and supporting facts to help substantiate this?

    Why are the Marcoses keeping quiet of their father’s dark and troubled past? I know the “Sins of the Father, and their Fathers” should not be used against them, but hey we Filipinos are primitive savages, we want blood. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for them to regain their political power and influence instead of just living falsely accused and their entire lineage hereon would bear the stigma of their father?

    I try to leave an open mind in issues like these, and I tend to gather facts and opinions from both sides. Do share your thoughts, I will try my best to be civil.

    1. “If this is indeed true, why not gather evidence and supporting facts to help substantiate this?”

      With almost 1,000 various cases filed against the Marcoses both here and abroad pertaining to ill-gotten wealth and human-rights abuses since 1986 (with supposedly mountains of evidences) where is the single conviction? Says a lot! Don’t you think?!

      “Why are the Marcoses keeping quiet of their father’s dark and troubled past?”

      Why is that the architects/implementors of Martial Law, Ramos and Enrile (both have a direct hand during those times and are still alive), are not being questioned by the Yellow Camp? They even made Ramos a President after Cory in favor of Mitra!

      “I try to leave an open mind in issues like these, and I tend to gather facts and opinions from both sides.”

      Why is that the two Aquino Presidents did not pursue to investigate the assassination of Ninoy when they have all the powers of government in their favor to ferret out the truth? And then carry on to demonize Mr. Marcos!

      “The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”

    2. ‘…he has allowed numerous human rights violations unchecked, torturing of rebels and insurgents may be a bit too much…”

      Marcos, as a matter of fact, had created a human rights body to look into the issue and in fact many were charged, jailed, and discharged from service accordingly. But in 1986, they were given a general amnesty by, guess who, Cory Aquino. Believe it or not.

      “How about the alleged stolen riches? Are they all propaganda perpetrated by the yellow camp?”

      On Youtube you will find video clips of Imelda showing off gold certificates and bill of ladings of gold shipments. I think she had even shown these to a group of journalists over some lunch back in the 1990s in an effort to explain but she was simply mocked by them. I am thinking that because Imelda is getting old, she would be settling the issue once and for all and it is a good opportunity that the incumbent is friendly.

  8. Tbh I believe Marcos should not have been buried there. I mean yeah he can, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he should. I’ll admit he did well in infrastructure, but otherwise, things went southward since then. The succeeding administrations were even worse, especially the Cory era, but the downfall started in Marcos’s term.

    For me, the “golden era” of the Philippines was from Ramon Magsaysay to Diosdado Macapagal.

    1. Sorry but TBH, your apparent reasoning instigate mental confusion… which gives an impression that of a kiddo thinking that isn’t coherent and logical!

      So how do you exactly repeal the Law of Supply and Demand?

  9. What soiled the “Spirit of Edsa” was the hijacking done by villains pretending to be heroes. They came to the rally yesterday, looking to be identified with a movement just for their own sake. They’re the ones responsible for making the Anti-Marcos movement a laughingstock. Let’s hope the genuine Anti-Marcos movers know better than to accept the saboteurs among their ranks.

    1. So they unbury the bangkay. What happens?

      Nothing.

      Corruption is still around, Filipinos still hate each other (given the chance, they’ll still kill ech other) and life is still hard. “Feeling better” by unburying the bangkay won’t solve anything. Taking action on the living will.

  10. To speak of leaving the ‘DEMOCRACY’ to the grown-ups ,as this article does, is suggestting that the Philippines is actually a ‘DEMOCRACY’!
    LOL, it is anything BUT a ‘DEMOCRACY’, and it is rather a
    ‘KLEPTOCRACY’, one in which the oligarchs control the politicians and tell them what to do. The politicians, for their part, keep the citizens divided (and thus conquered)with all sorts of BULLSHIT scandals that are never ongoing, and curiously enough, never ended in prosecutions of the guilty parties.
    and finally : FAILIPINO’s for thier part, feed into the BULLSHIT by picking sides with one of the Politicians never realizing that there is absolutely no difference between any of these RATS/Politicians and that their excercising in their ‘DEMOCRACY’ is really an excercise in futility and a complete farce.

    Time and time again, the outgoing administration is painted as the reason the country is in such bad shape and the incoming dmin chase’s the outgoing admin trying to lock them up but never does catch up to the criminals and NO ONE EVER GOES TO JAIL AND NO ONE EVER GIVES BACK ANY ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH.

    IT HAPPENED WITH E-CRAP and then with GMA and now with AQUINO, NONE OF WHOM LOSE’s anything/give’s any ill-gotten wealth back, or spends a single day in jail.

    It is VERY EVIDENT that Filipino’s do not even understand what is happening in there own country. Proof of this can be seen on this very web-site,GRP. Where bloggers were actually convinced that GMA was being persecuted, but it was nothing of the sort. All while the alleged persecution was happening, the former President kept her seat in Congress, never spent one second in that hospital, NEVER had need to have an operation on her neck that must have magically healed itself through prayer(it is a mighty tool! children!) and gave not one single peso back to the treasury. ND YET BLOGGERS ON THIS WEB-SITE INSISTED GMA WAS BEING RAILROADED, but the REALITY WAS/IS : NOTHING HAPPENED TO HER, she walked away unscathed and VERY RICH. All on a Presidential salaray of less than P100,000/moth !!!

    So, as anyone that is not blind can see that the country can not be considered a ‘DEMOCRACY’, it is more accurately a ‘KLEPTOCRACY’….and for this reason every single FAILIPINO SHOULD BE FUCKIN OUTRGED AND IN THE STREETS BURNING HOR/SENATE and PALACE DOWN and getting out the Guillotine for the RATS, BUT NO !!! The Philippines is a Democracy.

    RIGHT, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT SHIT !

    1. *sigh* are we going to do this again?

      Wanna ask: why did you became EMO over GMA all of a sudden? It’s odd coming from someone like you…

    2. Tomorrow’s dreams? More like tomorrow’s nightmares. And that’s exactly what you’re doing with your nonsense protests you troublemaking emotard.

  11. looks like de lima is being puzzled by the reinstatement of supt marvin marcos. the way she acts she’s guilty in her mind. she’s sooooo scared. that’s the way of finding who’s the mastermind de lima knew it.

  12. Anti Marcos protesters are living in a past era; thinking they are in an era, where there are no Information Technology. They are stuck in the past…

    The world has changed dramatically , since the 1986 Enrile Ramos C.I.A. coup d’ etat. Information is now available on your fingertips.

    The era of captured media and captured audience are now a bygone era. Political propaganda machines do not work, anymore. The Blog, the tweet and the internet enable people to communicate with each other.

    Any Filipino citizen, who have access to the computer, can contribute : a comment, an idea or whatever, he wants to write on these Information Technology medium…

    This is the reason that the mainstream media is complaining. It cannot sell its news anymore … it lost its power on our political system, and they are going bankrupt and way down to the gutter !

  13. might be better to declare martial law first then proceed for a charter change to federalism for smooth transition or else you know what i mean. and corrupt officials should return what they took from the people don’t let them run away with it.

  14. “this system should be left to the grownups.” -> THIS

    democracy demand responsibility, proper education and critical thinking.

  15. Cut the crap. Your rally was nothing more than a nuisance without a doubt paid by the same corrupt officials that had rob the country and put philippines into a piece of sh*t. There are more higher priorities to fight for the corrupt officials, drug lords and it’s drug protectors. In case you forget remember the yolanda funds that has rob the victims of such calamities. What your fighting for is misguided nothing pure but evil intent. Instead of fighting over a dead who is already 10 feet below the ground why not seek out justice for yolanda victims and hacienda luisita. Justice for the victims of drugs from corrupt politicians that are cuddlers and protectors.

  16. OH NO NO THEY ARE NOT ! LOOK, IF YOUR GRANDFATHER/UNCLE/FATHER/BROTHER or other family member(s) was TORTURED/MURDERED by the Marcos Regime you would still hate their guts! SO WHO ARE YOU KIDDING WITH THIS BOGUS ARTICLE, BESIDES YOURSELF?

    1. >implying all of these so-called Martial law victims are all ‘innocent’
      >implying no one is killed during Cory’s rule and other post-Marcos presidents

      So who are YOU kidding with your stupid comment, BESIDES YOURSELF?

      Bravo for your sheer idiocy and ignorance. Sorry if everyone is not drinking the Yellow Kool-aide like you do.

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