Where were you in 1986 during the People Power Revolution?

My husband and I watched a documentary about the People Power Revolution with our kids on February 25 after coming from a relative’s birthday party.

We talk to them about this event every year so that they would know what happened many years ago even though they were not born yet.

Going back to my question, let me answer that.

I was a 10-year-old girl living in an apartment at 14th Avenue, Murphy, QC. That was the street after or parallel to Santolan, which was the street in front of Camp Aguinaldo. Our apartment was at #11 14th Avenue. That was near the gate of Camp Aguinaldo, which could be found at the intersection of 15th Avenue and Santolan road.

Let me describe what was happening in our area at that time.

There were tanks and soldiers on our street. While Camp Aguinaldo was being bombed, we could feel it in our house. Every time it happened, my parents and grandmother would ask me and my younger brother to hide under our bed. Every time we would hear gunfire outside our apartment, we would again hide either under the bed or table to protect ourselves from bullets.

It was definitely scary!

The soldiers would run into our apartment to retreat from the other soldiers they were fighting.

We could see them outside our apartment window as they run just outside our home. When we see them coming, we would go back to our hiding places.

When the sounds of bombs and gunfire stop, our parents look outside our window to check if it is safe for us to go out of our hiding places again.

I told this story to my kids years ago. I try to tell it every year so they would not forget that it happened and that I, their uncle and grandparents were close to the camp where it happened.

I told them that it was indeed a miracle that our family was not injured or killed in the crossfire. It was a miracle that civilians like our family and our neighbors were not injured or killed at that time.

We remained in our home for days fearful for our lives.

Then, one day, the son of my father’s employer who is also our family friend (Ramon Christopher “Monching” Gutierrez whom I fondly call Kuya Mon) went to our apartment to help us evacuate while there was no fighting. He was still a teen-aged actor at that time. I wasn’t even sure if his mom, Pilita Corrales, knew that he went to our place to fetch us.

He helped not just our family evacuate. He helped our neighbors as well! Our neighbors were equally scared so many of them begged to ride with us in his vehicle. He helped whoever could fit his vehicle. Good thing, he brought an L300 van.

He dropped off our neighbors where they could get a ride to their relatives’ houses. He wanted to bring us to his home so we could stay with his family. It was a generous offer. But my mother suggested that he just bring us to San Juan where many of my mother’s relatives reside. And he did.

That night, after a few nights of almost not getting any sleep because of fear, our family was able to sleep longer because we were finally away from all the action.

Civilians eventually filled the streets around Camps Aguinaldo and Crame when the late Jaime Cardinal Sin asked the faithful to help stop the bloodshed and protect the rebel soldiers from the loyal soldiers of former President Marcos. If not for the millions of people who trooped to the streets to get between the tanks and the camps where the rebel soldiers were, there could have been more fighting.

Some people say that there isn’t really anything to celebrate, that the country has not really improved and people are still struggling and many Filipinos are still poor.

But I disagree.

I celebrate the miracle of Edsa. I celebrate that many Filipinos who could have died in 1986 (like my family and our neighbors) lived on to witness this miracle and many more. I celebrate that because of the People Power Revolution, we experienced democracy again. I celebrate the gift of our Catholic faith. I celebrate the beautiful memory of our unity during that time as one people. I celebrate the peaceful transition and the bloodless revolution that happened to oust a dictator. I thank God for the many people He touched during those days to become His instruments of love, courage and peace. I thank God for His protection and for the prayers He answered. I thank God for the many men and women who were heroes in their own way during the Edsa People Power Revolution.

I thank God for the lessons I learned from the People Power Revolution as a child and even now as I remember it.

One of the reasons we chose to homeschool them is so that we could choose the materials we will use in educating them. We can teach them the truth about what really happened and they would not be made to believe that things were rosy during Marcos’ time like what was written in many history books.

Here are some of the lessons I learned and I hope to pass on to my own children as we homeschool them.

Nothing is impossible with God.

God hears the fervent prayers of His people.

God will always be our refuge in the storm.

Prayer can move mountains. Prayer can move hearts.

When 2 or 3 are gathered in His name, God is in their midst.

God hears the cry of the poor.

No one is more powerful than God. He may allow someone who is undeserving of power or position to be in a position of authority but He can also choose to remove that person in an instant. He is sovereign. He sits on the throne and still is in control no matter what happens.

Kindness and love melt hearts and form bridges.

Give peaceful solutions a chance.

Do not give up your faith or hope.

Courage is not lack of fear but standing one’s ground in spite of fear.

You may be just one ordinary person but you can make a difference.

Your presence can make a difference.

One person’s courage can inspire another to take courage. In the same way, one person’s faith can inspire another to also have faith.

I pass on these lessons about faith, life, nationhood and about power to my children, the next generation so that they would know the truth and they would be inspired as well by these lessons.

We ended our lesson by letting the kids listen to one of the songs composed during that time by Jim Paredes.