People Power belongs to Filipino People, not Gloria; Workers, take back EDSA!

The impending commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the original EDSA Revolution should be an occasion to revisit the reasons why people rose up peacefully against a dictator.

EDSA 1 may have restored democratic institutions, but governance was hijacked by the same elitist forces that differed little from Marcos in unaccountability and corruption. The aspirations of our people were stunted by the reassertion of elite rule. And this societal ill continues to be the single biggest obstacle to truly realizing the ideals of EDSA 1.

It is ironic that as we remember EDSA 1, the very same spark that propelled people to pour out into the streets in 1986 -- electoral fraud -- haunts the current government as well. Which only goes to show that not much has changed since Marcos was ousted. Poverty is just as rampant as it was 20 years ago. In fact there were over 4 million (4.3 M) families living below the poverty line in 1985. Eighteen years later, the same about 4 million (3.9 M) families remained poor as of 2003. Note that the poverty line in 2003 was only two-thirds its real value in 1985. In other words, the poor today are poorer than they were 20 years ago.

The political picture has not improved neither. The human rights provisions of the 1987 Constitution remain unrealized, unprotected and undefended. The progressive clauses on patrimony are still being brazenly ignored in favor of liberalization and deregulation.

Workers' rights continue to be violated. Unions are being busted on a daily basis, and unionists get fired from their jobs for trying to organize workers. Majority of workers are still not covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements, leaving them vulnerable to the whims and excesses of capitalists. Activists, trade unionists and journalists are being killed at a rate not seen since the Marcos Martial Rule, and Arroyo's government is either unwilling or unable to solve the killings.

Workers have nothing but a bleaker future to look forward to under current circumstances. The unemployment rate stood at a record-level 11% in 1986 (it was at that time the highest rate since 1965). But that record has been surpassed five times in the last five years. There were over 2.4 million jobless Filipinos in 1985. That number has exploded to 4.1 million in 2005. At the same time, underemployment surged to 12% (of employed workers) in 2005, the highest rate ever recorded for the country.

And the government's main preoccupation? The imposition of added taxes, which continue to wreak havoc on poor Filipinos making all of us dig deeper into our pockets to shore up the resources of a government that remains unresponsive to the needs of the majority! Every day Filipinos shell out more and more money to pay for skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, oil, electricity and water utilities.

Yet underlining such crisis is the inability of government to regulate transnational corporations preying on consumers' rights under the pretext of supposedly functioning and normal "market forces". We have independent power producers whom we pay in billions of pesos for undelivered electricity, concessionaires such as Maynilad who operate incompetently as humanly possible, oil companies who jack up prices arbitrarily, and regulatory bodies such as the ERC who are only too compliant with business interests and not those of the consumers' they were sworn to protect.

The icing on the cake of course is the crisis hounding the Arroyo government. In the context of or wide array of erroneous and anti-people policies, we have a government that ignores questions of legitimacy and transparency. And it is not afraid to employ the resources of the state to protect its interest. The administration's calibrated preemptive response seeks to crack down on dissent in the streets, while its EO 364 seeks to shield the executive from inquiries by Congress. The recovered Marcos stolen wealth and other financial resources are being diverted away from their intended use to buy the loyalty of local government units and officials.

We are in the midst of a crisis that could easily surpass the rottenness of the Estrada administration. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is no less shameful than the President whose ouster benefited her. And it is this continued usurpation of power by elitists, such as GMA, that ensures nothing but a bleaker future for Filipinos. The widening gap between the elite and the poor will never be truly bridged, for as long as systemic changes continue to elude us.

It is only through the radical reform of social structures, beginning with the removal of deposition of the elites in charge together with their capitalist cohorts can workers truly begin to effect the changes that will ensure a brighter future for us all! We need to put in place a government that is revolutionary in its vision, daring in its breadth and action as it puts first the interests of the poor toiling masses. It is high time that the stronghold of elite and patronage politics be dismantled and a government truly reflective of the people's will put in its place. A government that must be possessed with the widest mandate possible from the people, and not merely from military factions or other similar narrow interests. Civilian authority must empower and breathe life into such government.

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of EDSA 1, workers will lead the way in taking back EDSA away from the elites. It is high time to reclaim the revolution and fulfill the promises it held for the poor, and take back the power that was unrightfully bestowed on the wrong people. Workers, let us take back EDSA this year not only physically, but politically as well!