The 80's started with more of the same. Marcos was still king, most of the police, military and cronies have sharpened their skills in stealing the country's wealth and no one wanted to open or invest in any business. "Bold" movies were plentiful to keep our minds off our grumbling stomachs. On August 21, 1983 a man named Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino was assasinated. While high from smoking weed and shots of Tanduay with my barkada, I watched live on TV the assasination of this man. The government blamed a lone suicide gunman who got past 30 fully armed soldiers and somehow knew that Ninoy was taking the side door to the tarmac instead of the tube. A piss poor lie. It was never the same after that. Why did this man return to this country when his death was guaranteed by the powers that be? Why did he have to die? Couldn't he have just been returned to jail? I started wondering why were we so poor? Why did I have to skip meals or drop out of school? Why did I need a "padrino" to get a decent job? Why didn't anybody condem a drunken neighbor cop who pistol whipped a balut vendor, indiscriminately fired his pistol in the air and threatened everyone around him? Why was life so hard and painful? My grandmother always said,"Tanggapin na lang natin ang pinagkaloob ng Panginoon sa atin". This was no longer enough to appease me. Ninoy risked it all because he knew that his return would show all of us that someone was still willing to show us a better life. This was the beginning of the end for the Marcos dictatorship. I joined the people who took to the streets and it felt good to be with others who had the same complaints. The word "truncheon" was added to my vocabulary when I got whacked by the cops breaking up one of our school rallies. I had an impressive collection of pins and yellow t-shirts. Fast forward to February 1986. Corazon "Cory" Aquino, widow of Ninoy, loses the snap election because of widespread cheating and violence. I was coming out of the New Frontier Theater and heard the now familiar rally cries coming from Aurora Blvd. It was the August 21 Movement (ATOM) led by Butz Aquino saying that Gen. Fidel Ramos and Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile has broken away from the government and that they will need our support in Camp Aguinaldo. I knew I had to be there and that we were nearing the end of the Marcos rule . The next four days was scary and euphoric. I witnessed a people united, full of hope and courageous. We found a way into a better world and was ready to take the first step. Government troops were arriving en masse up to the edge of where people blocked the freeway EDSA. There was tension everytime tanks tried to break through our ranks or planes appeared to make a straffing pass. We ran to the sections around the camp where government troops were trying to breakthrough. In between, it was a big fiesta. Free food, live entertainment and laughter everywhere.The religious held vigils. Businesses brought in truckloads of supplies for the rebel soldiers and the masses around the camp. Rich and poor folk mingled with government soldiers trying to convince them to come to the rebel's side. We were a people united. Finally, the news everyone was waiting for came over the airwaves "Marcos has fled". We have stolen our freedom back. I was proud to be a Filipino.
