Filipinos around the world denounce Money Power, celebrate People Power

TELLTALE SIGNS: THE LAST PEOPLE POWER RALLY?
Rodel Rodis, February 24, 2010

In one of CBS reporter Bob Simon’s telecasts from the Philippines when he covered the People Power revolution in February of 1986, he said “Often we Americans like to think that we taught Filipinos Democracy, well, tonight, they’re teaching the world.” It was the proudest moment for all Filipinos who suddenly stood ten feet tall in the eyes of the world.

Every Filipino likely recalls where they were when they heard news of the downfall of the Marcos Dictatorship. I recall being in front of the Philippine Consulate demonstrating in solidarity with the people of the Philippines who bravely stood down the Dictator’s tanks at an avenue called Edsa for short.

When we heard word of the victory of People Power in Edsa, we headed to Union Square, just a block away from the Consulate, and spontaneously celebrated there.

Five years before then, I joined hundreds of Filipinos in Union Square to demonstrate against Marcos when he visited San Francisco and received the keys of the city from then Mayor Dianne Feinstein just right across the street at the St. Francis Hotel.

This Sunday afternoon, February 28, I will be returning to Union Square for a celebration of People Power, the 24th anniversary of the event but the first since Cory Aquino passed away in August of last year. At the rally, we will fondly recall the time when, as Time wrote, “Filipinos armed to the teeth with rosaries and flowers, massing in front of tanks, and the tanks stop, and some of the soldiers who were the enemy embracing the people and their flowers.”

As Time correspondent Roger Rosenblatt wrote: “In a short string of remarkable days, a crooked election was held and exposed; a dignified woman established her stature and leadership; a despot ranted, sweated, fled; a palace changed guard–all with a minimum of blood lust and an abundance of determination and common national will. Not since 18th century France have Americans approved so heartily of a rebellion.”

But Rosenblatt wasn’t sure if our democracy would last. Quoting from Bertrand Russell, he asked: “If one man offers you democracy and another offers you a bag of grain, at what stage of starvation will you prefer the grain to the vote?”

That is what Filipino voters are being offered today: hope that together they will work to rid the country of corruption and eliminate poverty, or money in exchange for their votes, money derived from corruption. People Power vs. Money Power.

Overseas voters, especially those of us in America, cannot generally be enticed with money. So the way to persuade us to support the candidate with money is to destroy the image of the icon of People Power, Cory Aquino.

Leading the Villar attack dogs in the US is a veteran PR man based in Washington DC named Adolfo “Ado” Paglinawan who bills himself “The Noble Wolf” in his Filipino Image press releases. As a member of dozens of list serves, he posts as many as 5 hit pieces a day against Noynoy Aquino whom he repeatedly derides as “an empty shell”.

In his February 15, 2010 posting (at 11:57 PM), Paglinawan wrote that “investigative writers are now on the hot trail of both Ninoy and Cory whose mythical glass ceiling has been shattered by the autistic recklessness of their son’s candidacy. There is now a lead that in exchange for returning to the Lopezes all those allegedly sequestered by Marcos from them, Cory Aquino is now the controlling interest of all those companies, including Meralco and ABSCBN, and new ventures like the North Luzon Expressway Tollroads.”

Paglinawan described it initially as just a “lead” but in subsequent postings, he refers to it already as fact, something that even the most rabid PR hacks working for Manny Villar in the Philippines would not stoop so low as to claim because it just wouldn’t be credible. After all, if Cory Aquino had a controlling interest in ABS-CBN, would she allow Willie Revillame to continue to host Wowowee and use the popular program to openly campaign for Manny Villar?

But the truth has never been known to stand in the way of Paglinawan’s vulgar propaganda attacks against “autistic” Noynoy. He subscribes to what Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels believed that if you say a big lie often enough, it will be accepted as gospel truth.

One of Paglinawan’s clients, Bongbong Marcos, a senate candidate of Villar’s party, recently described People Power as a “failure” This is not surprising because Villar has promised Bongbong that, as president, he will declare Marcos a hero and restore all his ill-gotten wealth back to his family.

Cory and Ninoy are being denigrated while Marcos is being hailed. If Villar wins, then Bongbong may turn out to be right.

(Send comments to Rodel50@aol.com or mail them to the Law Offices of Rodel Rodis at 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call (415) 334-7800).

Tweet This Post