EDSA People Power Revolution Was An Incomplete Revolution For Filipinos – It Drove Out Marcos But Not Poverty And Inequality!

I was one of those who earlier hesitated to join the marchers at EDSA during those February days in 1986 when people collected at EDSA to show support to Juan Ponce Enrile who had declared publicly his hate against his erstwhile boss and PH President Ferdinand Marcos (FM). Monday, pass. Tuesday, pass. Wednesday, pass. Thursday, pass. Friday I went, 25 February – and the Marcoses, hurriedly left the next day! Was it me? It was the EDSA people, about a million of them total. No, I did not do anything spectacular, but the Marcoses knew what was “good” for them at the time – they flew out of danger! (top image twibon.app)

And Corazon “Cory” Aquino became PH President. And the ladies applauded. And mostly the Marcos boys, whoever they were, lost their grip on political power. And we Filipinos applauded.

What else? In the last 39 years:
Did the lives of Filipinos improve much? Nah!
Did the poor farmers become a little rich? Nah!
Did PH politics go from bad to better? No, still the same! Or is badder?

Via Paterno R Esmaquel II, the news today is that “Top Catholic Schools Declare EDSA Holiday, Defy Marcos ‘Downgrade’” (17 Feb 2025, rappler.com):

“Top Catholic schools in the Philippines declared a non-working day on February 25, the 39th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, even if the Marcos government downgraded it to a special working day.”

Not simply to “defy Marcos downgrade” of the EDSA Revolution – What we need to do today is wage another kind of EDSA revolution – the digital kind! Let’s bring out the necessary knowledge wherever.

Like, I am an agriculturist (UPLB ’65, BS Ag Edu); I say, to help the poor farmers raise themselves from poverty to prosperity, they must stop practicing expensive Chemical Agriculture (CA) and start practicing inexpensive Regenerative Agriculture (RA). Immediately!

RA is not from the wild blue yonder – it has been talked & written about since Robert Rodale talked about it in 1989.

What are the RA practices again? I will never tire repeating 13 in my RA list: (1) Cover Cropping, (2) Crop Rotation, (3) Farm Crops + Tree Crops (Agroforestry), (4) Green Manuring, (5) Intercropping, (6) Multiple Cropping, (7) No-Till Farming, (8) Organic Fertilization, (9) Ratooning, (10) Rotational Grazing, (11) “Three Sisters” Planting, (12) Trap Cropping, and (13) Trash Mulching.

Except that the spread of RA among Filipino farmers has been limited. Why? In the first place, the knowledge of RA is limited – not even my alma mater, UP Los Baños (I’m BSA ’65, Ag Edu) is talking and/or taking up in class about RA!

Knowledge limited – What a waste of People Power!

I wrote 24 Nov 2023: “Your Garden Of Eden Is The Green You Cultivate & The Joy You Harvest From – Frank A Hilario” (“Creative Thinkering, blogspot.com). Note the title: Your garden of Eden could be anywhere!

To save the Earth, to save ourselves: Everyone should find one’s own green to grow! (bottom image: sg.images.search.yahoo.com) @517