Celebrities recall heady Edsa days

Even movie stars and TV celebrities felt the spirit of the Edsa People Power  Revolution 30 years ago as they joined fellow  Filipinos on those four heady days that changed the course of the nation’s history.

Tessie Tomas, who used to spoof former first lady Imelda Marcos in her comedy shows, recalled joining “other performers Freddie Aguilar and the Apo Hiking Society on the roof of the (government station) PTV 4 building (now ABS-CBN), entertaining the crowds so they would continue to protect us from government troops. The next day, I went to Edsa with my son, Robin, who was 10 years old then. We both wore yellow shirts.”

Stand-up comic Willie Nepomuceno said he was hosting the launch of a pizza restaurant in Makati when news of the coup led by (Marcos defense minister) Juan Ponce Enrile and (Armed Forces vice chief of staff) Fidel V. Ramos broke out.  On his way back to Marikina, he saw opposition leader Butz Aquino in front of Isetann department store, said the performer who said he was “a constant figure” in the four-day revolt.

Jon Santos, another comic who spoofs politicians, said he was a college senior at UP Diliman at the time. “I went to Edsa with my classmates. After three decades, we still reflect on Edsa and how we are continually challenged to fight for clean and honest elections and leaders who won’t betray our trust.”

Never forget

Ces Quesada, a former UP Diliman teacher who went on to portray Cory Aquino in the seminal gag show “Sic O’Clock News” post-Edsa, recalled following the news on TV in her parents’ house. “(Earlier, I had gone) to Crame to bring sandwiches for the (rebel) soldiers,” she said.

Pop singer Celeste Legaspi, who joined 14 other performers in recording the Edsa anthem “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo,” recounted how she went to Edsa on the first night and brought freshly baked pan de sal for the soldiers. “It is good to observe the 30th anniversary of Edsa … We must never forget,” she said.

Singer Kuh Ledesma recalled that she sang “Bayan Ko” one night on Edsa. “We should be proud of Edsa. We got together for a common and worthy cause—to topple a dictatorship and regain democracy.”

Scriptwriter-director Jose Javier Reyes likewise shared “vivid memories” of those four days. “My best friend (actor) Manny Castañeda and I were among the first people to join (TV director) Johnny Manahan and his group at the PTV 4 studios along Mother Ignacia Street, monitoring troop movements and relaying the latest developments to the public.”

It was a time for unwavering, if sleep-deprived, valor. “Fueled by adrenaline, we survived on only two hours of sleep,” Reyes recalled, adding that he now regards the events of February 1986 with “a greater sense of objectivity.”  He added: “The personalities deemed as heroes then were not saints, (but) were just historical necessities who had their own agenda better understood decades later.”

Activists

Filmmaker Joel Lamangan, who was on Edsa with the late director Lino Brocka and other artists, said that “the young people who sacrificed their lives for freedom (before Edsa) must be remembered as well. We must also honor the heroism of activists who were jailed or killed so that Edsa could happen.”

Scriptwriter Ricky Lee said he was a regular on Edsa who would stay till late at night, “sometimes with Brocka, sometimes with (actress) Chanda Romero and other friends and workshoppers. I told them that people power happened because, during martial law, many Filipinos risked their lives, took to the streets and opposed the dictatorship.They paved the way. And I am proud to say that I was one of them.”

Singer-actress Ali Sotto, another Imelda impersonator on TV, said she was an Ateneo law student who later joined the National Movement for Free Elections in the 1986 snap polls. She was monitoring the canvassing of votes when the revolt broke out.  Rushing off to Edsa, she “ran into and joined the group of (the late director) Marilou Diaz-Abaya.”

Today, the radio commentator conceded that the “euphoria had long since died down… but what is inarguable is that we regained many of the freedoms we had lost during martial law, including freedom of speech. Had I done then the kind of political satire and commentary that Arnold Clavio and I are doing now, I would have been a desaparecida.”

 

Mass action

Before he played Gen. Antonio Luna in the 2015 film “Heneral Luna,” actor John Arcilla was already a revolutionary in his own way, a regular in the parliament of the streets and president of the cultural arm of a student organization.”

When Edsa happened, some student leaders cautioned Arcilla that it was not a true people’s revolution. “But I wanted to give Filipinos credit for that triumphant day,” he said, adding that Edsa was a “culmination of our tireless community-organizing and mass-action efforts.”

Singer Bituin Escalante was only 8 in 1986, whose parents would go to Edsa after bidding “real goodbyes because there was uncertainty in the air.” When the crowds swelled and the soldiers switched sides, her parents brought her along to Edsa with her grandparents and uncles. “We wore homemade shirts that read: ‘Veteran February 1986.’”

Actor Juan Rodrigo went to Edsa with his mom and siblings and brought sandwiches to share with others. “The feeling was indescribable. People were friendlier. You could feel the love and sincerity. How I wish that kind of unity still exists now.”

Stuck at home

Singer Ogie Alcasid was a college freshman at UP Los Baños, but would motor all the way to Manila, to join the crowds on Edsa. “I am now part of the Edsa People Power Commission, which sees to it that its ideals will never be forgotten.”

Others celebrities, who were stuck at home or based miles away, made sure they were part of the fiesta revolution, too—as concerned citizens who monitored the event as it unfolded on radio and television.

Among them were high-schooler Cooky Chua who recalled watching everything on TV as her parents did not allow her to go out on the streets. “One of the things that struck me was the music,” said the singer who later joined the cast of “Lean,” the musical on the life of murdered student leader Lean Alejandro in 1997.

Singer Bayang Barrios, also based in Mindanao in the 1980s, remembered the “curfew and (not being) free to  speak out against the government.”  She felt happy when the people prevailed on Edsa, she said. “It showed us that there’s power in unity.”

Folk singer Lolita Carbon was also at home monitoring the news on Edsa. “Through my music and songs, I try to embolden people and encourage them to piece everything together.”

Poetic justice

Singer Martin Nievera recalled being glued to the TV and “feeling the tension in the air.” His mother had already booked plane tickets for his sisters, he said, adding: “Being close to the Marcoses didn’t help.”

Folk singer Joey Ayala recalled being in Davao province, monitoring developments on radio and playing mah jong with his in-laws. “What remains relevant is the idea that power resides in the people,” he said.

Gary Valenciano, a young father then, was unsure of what would happen, “but certain of the need to be at Edsa.” He recalled: “I thought we were going to war. It was a trying time for me because I didn’t know what the future held.”  His son Paolo was only 4 months old then, while his wife, Angeli Pangilinan, was in Hong Kong for a surgery, he said.

Musician RJ Jacinto, whose family was persecuted by the martial-law regime, was “on exile in Hawaii” when the revolution happened. “I watched everything on CNN,” he said.

When Radio Veritas went off the air, a station called Radyo Bandido took over and appealed for support for the rebel soldiers. “Turned out Radyo Bandido was my old rock ’n’ roll station dzRJ, which was taken over by the (Marcos) military in 1972. It was poetic justice,” he said.  “A radio station I put up became a voice of democracy.” –Bayani San Diego Jr. and Allan Policarpio