Julia Christine Botin

Article (news)

Edmund Tayao

<h2><em>First of Three Parts</em></h2><div><br/></div><p>Change happens in increments.  Especially in our case, the change that happens, if it happens at all, is often unnoticeable. </p><p>Some are even insignificant, and worse, not for the better. This doesn’t have anything to do much with culture, which is often, rather erroneously, blamed for much of the wrong choices we do, especially for the leaders we elect.</p><p>And judging by the kind of leaders we now have, compared to what we had some 30 or more years back, change has been largely for the worse.</p><p>A disruption is needed. That’s what some would say. A disruption is always seen to be bad, especially that as its name implies, it “disrupts” everything that we are doing or have been doing; it disturbs everything that we are familiar with.</p><p>It is however an opportunity. Because we have always been seeing and doing the same things repeatedly, it makes us unable to see and understand what needs to be done; what change to be considered and what “new” that we need to pursue.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/in-photos-citizens-hunger-for-better-governance-four-decades-after-edsa-0055"><strong>IN PHOTOS: Citizens hunger for better governance, four decades after #EDSA</strong><br/></a></div><p>If we find the need to soberly look at things and think, we’d see that a disruption provides a window for change. </p><p>If we’re able to realize that, then we’d know that it is up to us to make that change for good and thus really put the opportunity to good use. </p><p>The question we need to ask now is what is this disruption and how do we put it to good use?</p><p>The answer is in reflection on the current situation, making sense of the many challenges we now face, the whats, whys and hows of every problem the country faces. </p><p>Of course, we should as much possible try really hard to do it objectively that we do away with the blinders of partisanship that defined our politics since time immemorial.</p><p>We do this by understanding our history, our story as a people, what we have experienced ever since and relate it to how things are now and how it should have been. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;DO WE REALLY HAVE A DEMOCRACY?&#x27;</strong></div><p>We can start with a close look at our democracy and ask if what we have really is a democracy and why what we have is what we have. </p><p>What better way to do so than looking at the recently commemorated People Power revolution. As we call it a revolution, it should have the effect of a “revolution”.  That is a complete departure from how things are and a reset, a hard reset, in fact.  But did we actually had that so-called reset?</p><p>Two generations have passed since the People Power revolution.</p><p>I can hear the song of Yano asking “kamusta na, ayos pa ba, ang buhay natin, kaya pa ba, eh kung hindi paano na, ewan mo ba, bahala na.” </p><p>This song hit the radio in 1994, 12 years after the Edsa uprising.  It resonated because it asked the right and in fact fundamental questions.  After 10 years of a turning point in any country’s history, anyone will no doubt expect change.</p><p>It’s now 2026 but the lyrics very much still capture how things are today, 40 years after the storied revolution.</p><p>That only means that not much has changed, iIf there’s been any change at all.  Perhaps leaders have changed, the younger taking over from the old.  But the names still largely remain.</p><p>There are new names no doubt, but more because of popularity, especially with the growing sophistication of technology, specifically in media and communications.  </p><p>Fame and even fortune has become easier to achieve.  But we need so much more than popularity, and given the situation today, there is every reason for the people, the voting public, to have realized rather convincingly now that we need much more than just popularity.</p><p>We need real, qualified and competent leaders, not those who would simply dance, sing or just talk and look concerned and dignified and get themselves elected.</p><p> If we still choose and elect leaders on the basis of popularity, the more we’ll have incompetent leaders in government. One can only wonder when we’ll have the likes of Jovito Salonga, Wigberto Tañada, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Santanina Rasul and so many notable competent leaders in the Senate again.</p><p>The 1986 EDSA revolution is an important point in our history not just because a dictator was overthrown. </p><p>In fact, it should be seen as a point in our political story where the people came to realize that there’s so much more that could be had from the way we do politics and therefore from the way the government works. That it should in the first place work for and in the interest of the people and not just a few.</p><p>Ferdinand Marcos, or Marcos Sr., may be known today because of his unceremonious expulsion from Malacañang in 1986.  But there’s more to that story that we should take note of. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/24/-edsa-was-a-struggle-between-forces-of-good-and-evil-nun-1040"><strong>&#x27;EDSA was a struggle between forces of good and evil&#x27; - nun<br/></strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>MARCOS SR. INTRODUCED &#x27;SIGNIFICANT REFORMS&#x27;</strong></div><p>The Marcos Sr. regime is an important part of history not because it was forced out but because it introduced significant reforms in government.</p><p>We were not the only country that had a dalliance with constitutional dictatorship at that time. </p><p>The need for “order” in “changing societies” was succinctly explained by Samuel Huntington in 1968.  Obviously, this was 23 years ahead of his seminal work on the Third Wave of Democratization. What we can pick up from that work is that the dictatorships were needed to effect change at that rather tempestuous time.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/2/28/why-authoritarianism-won-t-fix-corruption-in-southeast-asia-1152"><strong>Why authoritarianism won&#x27;t fix corruption in Southeast Asia</strong><br/></a></div><p>This does not in any way justify atrocities and abuses committed in a dictatorship.  </p><p>But imagine if we ended up like South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, even our nearest neighbors Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Would we still see more of the atrocities during that period in our history? </p><p>Unfortunately, our story turned out differently compared to these countries that also had their dictator at that same period in time.</p><p>Looking back, we have to ask what went wrong. </p><p>In the first place, Marcos Sr., just like many of our leaders when they assume leadership, started as a very popular leader. </p><p>Marcos Sr. rose to power because he had a legitimate concern, the dominance of the elites, not just in politics but also the economy of the country. </p><p>In fact, that period in our history was tumultuous because the people were becoming more and more aware that only the elites were benefitting from the prevailing setup and that the country has been consistently lagging behind many countries.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/21/-baguhin-ang-sistema-leaders-call-systemic-changes-vs-corruption-1525"><strong>&#x27;Baguhin ang sistema&#x27;: Leaders call for systemic changes vs corruption<br/></strong></a></div><p>Imagine if “Bagong Lipunan” succeeded, we would not be facing the problems we now face. </p><p>Politics would have been so much more than just empty rhetoric and meaningless squabbles between political personalities.  Perhaps we’d be having a more programmatic political contestation.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;WE WERE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION&#x27;</strong></div><p>If the many good programs of the Marcos Sr. government succeeded and sustained, we’d be like our neighbors we mentioned above, enjoying significant development not only in our economy but also in the way we do politics.</p><p>Note that it was in 1971 that a Constitutional Convention was called and that the draft was significantly different from the political system we now have which is an iteration of the 1935 Constitution. </p><p>We would have adopted a system that was consistent to what our forefathers had in mind in the Malolos Constitution, a parliamentary system that relied on the continuing dynamics of many leaders instead of giving so much power to only one single person.</p><p>Then again, Martial law was declared and instead put in place the 1973 Constitution.  Marcos Sr.’s constitutional dictatorship was further solidified with Amendment No. 6 ratified in 1976. </p><p>This could have still been a good development if that undisputed power led the president then to put in place systemic reforms in politics, perhaps starting with the establishment of real political parties and institutionalizing mechanisms that sustained a system that identified, recruited and prepared talents that could become good leaders and at the same time an agency that continually assists elected leaders enabling them to perform well in their positions.</p><p>No wonder the elder Marcos managed to build and strengthen a strong following. </p><p>A look at the members of his Cabinet will also show a veritable collective of technocrats; highly qualified heads of different departments and agencies that the government was able to push for so many avant garde programs. </p><p>It was impossible for anyone to doubt that we were in the right direction towards development.</p><p>Then reality struck.  Picture how anyone and everyone would react to a realization that they were taken for a ride.</p><p>The programs, no doubt, were promising. Some may have worked at the start but proved to be unsustainable. Studies would later show that the plans were actually sound.  There was something in the implementation though that led to failure.  From a rather promising socioeconomic future, the end simply was a disappointment.</p><p>Looking back, one could ask, what if these programs actually worked and made the country as it was promised at the start of the regime?  Perhaps the much-reported kleptocracy would not have resonated.  But it did.  When people start to see that what was promised is not fulfilled, it erodes public support and fuels unrest.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;PEOPLE REALLY WANTED CHANGE&#x27;</strong></div><p>The result was overwhelming. Many accounts argue that it was not really a revolution.  Then again, the net result can only result from a revolution hence it remains referred to as a revolution.  It may have really been just at attempt to grab power, a coup d’etat, but the call for people to mass was well received and they did mass in EDSA. </p><p>That can only mean one thing, the people really wanted change and do away with the regime. The exasperation was there and clearly manifested.</p><p>The thing is, Marcos Sr. promised a revolution in the country’s politics and economy and that the result was development.  This didn’t happen and the promised revolution happened by and through the people, hence the “People Power.” </p><p>The question again after that is if we actually had a revolution then.</p>

<p>The Marcos Sr. regime is an important part of history not because it was forced out but because it introduced significant reforms in government.</p>

The Marcos Sr. regime is an important part of history not because it was forced out but because it introduced significant reforms in government.

OPINION: Thanks to Duterte, we’re now at the cusp of real political revolution

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OPINION: Thanks to Duterte, we’re now at the cusp of real political revolution

Edmund Tayao

Published Mar 05, 2026 12:42 PM PHT

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Edmund Tayao

EDSA People Power

Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Bagong Lipunan

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