The EDSA revolution was a promise. “Never again.” They cried. But the scope was never clear. Never again to a dictator? Okay, but if not that, then what? What of corruption, of patronage, of poverty, of oligarchy, of ignorance? We thought the job finished and patted ourselves on the back and assumed everything would go back to normal, without regard to what “normal” needed to be. The same evils took different guises, and today the forces of darkness and dictatorship are almost close to fulfilling their return. EDSA was a promise, but only half-fulfilled, and the half left unfulfilled came back to haunt us.
I’m not super optimistic about the upcoming senatorial elections locally, the Filipino public has disappointed me far too often perhaps. I’ll still vote (if I can - I may be out of country at the time), but I no longer feel as strongly compelled to try to talk other people into making good decisions, not as I did back in 2016. Perhaps this time we would be pleasantly surprised? Hope springs eternal.
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