People Power and Reagan
Friday, June 11th, 2004I give props to Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) for ending the Cold War but I’d like to think the Filipino people helped inspire the world to fight oppressive regimes in the 1980s. The People Power Revolution that followed Ninoy Aquino’s assassination in 1983 catapulted his widow, Cory, to run, and eventually win, against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos during snap elections held in 1986. It was this revolt that gave hope, I believe, to oppressed people worldwide. I remember in 1987 watching South Korean protesters on TV holding up the “L” sign, the initial of Cory Aquino’s LABAN party, as they appropriated the symbol for themselves in their own fight against unfair elections. I see the image of the lone guy standing defiantly against a tank in 1989’s Tiananmen Square protest mirrored in the image from 1986 of nuns and ordinary citizens praying in front of tanks during a rally in Manila. Even as Reagan set the stage in his resolve to rid the world of communism in the 1980s, the People Power movement demonstrated to the world how non-violent peaceful resistance is done.
Update: found this interesting article on the legacy of People Power.