by Aubrey Jill I. Ledesma
Howie Severino’s Biyaheng EDSA (I Witness, 2011) talked about how Filipinos have fared in 25 years since the 1986 People Power Revolution. During the marked of the 25th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution in 2011, the documentary has addressed societal issues even after successfully ousting the Marcos’ regime. The film included issues such as permanent house settlement for nomads, police brutality, harassment of sidewalk vendors, pension funds as compensation for retiring workers, socioeconomic hierarchy between the silver spoons and the church’s mice, and lastly, the freedom of press and speech.
I was not surprised with the video quality since it was made a long time ago, but watching it today, I was amazed with how creative the motion pictures were presented. It was aesthetically pleasing to the eye despite the camera’s video resolution, dynamic change and speed that is not quite good if you based it in today’s video quality standards. However, the film was still intact as it showed significance to the way of life and culture of the Filipinos without breaking the record of history and the present times.
The scene that I cannot lose sight of was the statue of the virgin Mary in EDSA Shrine where it remained a memorial on how the 1986 revolution has succeeded in the past mainly, because the documentary has addressed the reality of a divisive situation between various religion even after millions of Filipinos have won against the regime of Marcos (1986) and Estrada (2001). Unfortunately, not even a symbol of Islam or representation of any religion is found in the people power marker.
It was like not acknowledging a hero’s remarkable stunt in history, the same case for those who were not given credits for participating to the renowned revolution in the Philippines. It was good that the movie highlighted the injustices and corruption that is still happening in the country. It showed how Filipinos are still suffering even after years of seeking freedom. Severino even discussed a serious inquiry on whether the 1986 People Power is a revolution or just a revolt caused by the other party. It’s amazing how he can humor us with his straightforward statements in this documentary as well as juxtaposed it with how we erroneously view our freedom. This reminded me that Philippines will always remain this way: thirsty for liberty despite a lot of propaganda have passed.
I’m not against anyone’s political stand nor economic claims, but I think the film has provided a bias documentary especially that GMA Network was really known for its tagline ‘walang, kinikilingan, walang pinoprotekahan’ news media. Technically, some parts of the movie were a bit of a one-sided story as it only emphasized the mediocre life of some Filipinos— disrespecting the efforts of the protesters and the lives of some residents in the area. Perhaps the film should have been more neutral in expressing and taking sides regardless of their political views in life.
After watching the full-documentary, questions have arised like: did life get better for Filipinos after all the revolutions that we had won? Was the revolution in the past worth it as we are now in a deep crisis? Was Marcos’ presidency really the best regime despite the negative rumors about his leadership?
Needless to say, the film is just about biyaheng EDSA where it planned to show how everyone is still standing strong despite a lot of events that took turn in the Epifano de los Santos Avenue. We can dig deep with the history’s exact turn of events without disrespecting the views of other people. After all, the history will always remain in the past, and that is something that we should look up to for our future generations.
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