As I was watching the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States, and the millions of people who went to witness this momentous event in US history, I quickly we remembered we Filipinos had a similar unforgettable, like they say’ “for the books” moment and this was during the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.
Here are some thoughts that came to my mind:
1. Mr. Obama is the first African-American President and Mrs. Corazon Aquino is the first female Philippine President.
2. Millions of people came to be part of the historic occasion. The Americans braved the cold while the Filipinos the heat.
3. The people celebrated change in American history. The once oppressed and discriminated black community saw a black man be leader of a powerful country. The Filipinos celebrated the ouster of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and saw the widow of his strongest political enemy take his seat.
4. Both leaders graced the cover of TIME Magazine as Man/Woman of the Year.
5. Both occurrences brought tears, hope and the belief that anything is possible.
6. The US police reported no incidents of crime and injuries while we had a bloodless revolution.
-People Power-
-Obama Inauguration-Well I was going to end this on a positive note but after hearing Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita say President Obama can learn a lot from President Gloria Arroyo, it just turned me off—the nerve of that man!
In a nutshell, the US is now taking its first steps towards change, which was the battle cry of President Obama. We on the other hand NEED A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT.
3 comments:
Interesting similarities. President Obama seems like a very strong and promising leader. He inspires people around the world.
The people of America and the rest of the world welcomed Obama's inauguration with so much hope and expectations. Only time will tell if he would be able to deliver on his promises to turn around the US economy and regain America's prestige and leadership in the world.
Just like Obama, Cory's presidency was thought to be a new era that would bring about peace,order, honesty in government and economic upliftment for the greater majority of Filipinos. Today, the country is worse off than before.
I think what we need is a change in values. Whatever party or leader runs the country, it won't make a difference if we continue with the same old culture of nepotism, political patronage, graft and corruption and abuse of power in government.
Discipline, honesty, hard work, nationalism, innovativeness, cleanliness, concern for the environment, social conscience should be ingrained in the minds of the young from kidergarten to college so that a new generation of Filipinos would emerge who have values and the mindset to fix our problems.
I like the Singaporean experience under Lee Kuan Yew.
Yeah i can see the similarities of both events in history.
Hi Mayi, sorry it took me a long time to visit you again. I guess you are doing good!
Thanks for the visit in my old blog. Here's a nice week-end to you and yours.
-Arlene
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