EDSA 25 at the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. is home to thousands of books from all over the world. It is the resting place of original signed copies of statutes, laws and resolutions from the U.S. Congress, which comes from across the street, the United States Capitol. It is also believed that underneath the two buildings is a passageway connecting the two buildings. But we'll not dwell into that.

Just last month, February 23-25, our home country celebrated 25 years of the EDSA People Power revolution. The mother of all peaceful revolutions. The inspiration of countries in Europe and the Middle East. It's been 25 years. See how time flies indeed.And to commemorate this, the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. did their share to celebrate our 25 years of freedom from dictatorship and authoritarianism.

One of the activities lined up was a photo exhibit at the Southeast Asian Section of the Library of Congress. The photos were taken by Scottish-Australian photojournalist Alfred Hardy, who was present during the bloodless revolution in EDSA, and was witness to how the seemingly bloody revolt would turn into a sharing of roses and rosaries. The exhibit ran for about a week.

 

On its opening ceremony, Ambassador Willy Gaa, in his speech before the guests of the opening of the exhibit, expressed how monumental EDSA Revolution has become not just to the Filipinos, but to many nations around the world. This is why the spirit of EDSA should never be forgotten and the facts and figures behind the bloodless revolt should forever be in the minds and hearts of everyone.

The opening program was attended not only by Filipinos, but also by Americans who were either in the Philippines when EDSA 1 erupted, or they knew people who knew people who were involved in the revolution.

At present, we are once again faced with another revolution. This is the revolution of the disgruntled Filipino. Now is the time for the administration to show what they were voted for. Clean up the ranks, straighten the government, show professionalism, revive the morale of the Filipinos. If we can do this in the next five years, then, maybe, just maybe, we can soar with our neighbors Singapore and Malaysia. Let's bring back the Tiger in our economy. Let's use the spirit of EDSA and be inspired to go the distance!

Mabuhay ang diwa ng EDSA magpakailanman!