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Reflection Paper

The document discusses the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986 in the Philippines from the perspective presented in a paper by Yuki Fukuoka. The summary is: 1) Fukuoka argues that People Power revolutions, including in the Philippines and Indonesia, were driven not just by the masses but by elites who felt repressed by the existing power structure. 2) In the Philippines, elites like the Cojuangco family who opposed Marcos may have helped ignite the revolution, including by assassinating Ninoy Aquino. 3) The document raises questions about whether current lack of revolution is due to elites being satisfied with laws and policies that cater to them.

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Shailah Leilene Arce Briones
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175 views2 pages

Reflection Paper

The document discusses the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986 in the Philippines from the perspective presented in a paper by Yuki Fukuoka. The summary is: 1) Fukuoka argues that People Power revolutions, including in the Philippines and Indonesia, were driven not just by the masses but by elites who felt repressed by the existing power structure. 2) In the Philippines, elites like the Cojuangco family who opposed Marcos may have helped ignite the revolution, including by assassinating Ninoy Aquino. 3) The document raises questions about whether current lack of revolution is due to elites being satisfied with laws and policies that cater to them.

Uploaded by

Shailah Leilene Arce Briones
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Briones, Shalyanna A.

12 HUMSS – 5

The EDSA People Power Revolution accumulated praises for it did not just showed
that with the power of standing together as a nation could be throw a dictator and a tyrant.
This revolution is also praised for its so-called blood-less revolution, it happened in
February 25, 1986 for days people stayed in EDSA to eradicate martial law and fight for the
freedom that they deserved. This event was called as the “face of democracy” but with Yuki
Fukuoka’s paper a different perspective was put into light. He reiterated the fact that the
people power that happened not just in the Philippines but also in Indonesia was not just
driven by the force of the masses but it also due to the elites who were repressed that
resulted to the one who was in power. In the Philippine case, the people power was driven
by a group of elites who felt like they have become ‘losers’ and therefore were the key
drivers of the revolution. The elites who weren’t in favor with Marcos were also silenced,
an example is Ninoy Aquino who was exiled in the U.S.

The People Power originally left me in awe, the thought that millions of people in
Manila stood for their rights, the thought that they united leaves me wondering, for years
that is what I thought but as I mentioned earlier the paper gave a new perspective and
some things made sense and the following were the points I came up with. 1. A conspiracy
theory, a chismis (or is it), is heard from my parents/grandparents who were alive during
the martial law said that the assassination of Aquino was done by the Cojuangco family to
ignite the fire of revolution since Ninoy Aquino already started a fight against the Marcos.
Having the paper mention that People Powers are driven by elite, this theory became
feasible. 2. Maybe the reason why even though there’s a lot of bad events happening lately,
and no matter how many people oppose to the government system that reason why a
revolution is still not happening due to the absence of the ‘big’ key driver: the elites.
Current laws and policies have catered to them too much that they just don’t care about the
oppressed. 3. As discussed to us before, capitalists run the government. 4. Money runs
everything. These people would not be baffled if they weren’t blinded by the money that
they are getting.
The People Power was believed to have showcased the true democracy and it was a
bummer to have seen this new perspective, nonetheless, without it, it would’ve been
blinding to see that the intentions were not entirely good as we all thought of it. In
conclusion, the people may have thought that they were in power when in reality those
who are in power are those who are really on the tip of the triangle and the people became
puppets of their plans. We must never forget and be critical in every situation. We never
realize that things were not coincidental but somehow a force has led us to a certain
situation. But I for the Philippines, and for the Filipino, stand and let the truth prevail and
our rights must withstood.

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