Edsa Quotes

In the aftermath of the Edsa Revolution, Thai protesters filled the streets of Bangkok. Another man stood before another tank at Tiananmen Square. The Berlin Wall fell, with Germany thanking the Philippines for showing them the way. Once upon a time, we were heroes.

Mga kapatid, naaalala niyo po ba ang Mactan noong 1521? Naaalala niyo po ba ang Gomburza? Naaalala niyo po ba ang Noli Me Tangere at ang El Filibusterismo? Naaalala niyo po ba ang mga bayani ng Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig? Naaalala niyo po ba si Ninoy Aquino? Naaalala niyo po ba ang EDSA? Naaalala niyo po ba ang mga kapatid nating nagdusa't namatay para sa ating henerasyon at para sa ating seguridad? Mga kapatid, ganito po ba natin ipapakita ang ating marubdob na pasasalamat sa kanila, hinahayaan po nating mamuno ang mga diktador at tirano?

The 1935 Philippine Constitution, with 7,828 words and punctuation marks, was finished in nine months; the 1973 Constitution, consisting of 13,671 words and punctuation marks, was deliberated in a span of two years. The Aquino Constitution, by comparison, was completed in a record time of only four months.

When President Aquino addressed the US Congress in 1986, she missed a historic opportunity to ask the American government to write off the $26.3 billion indebtedness that the Marcos regime bequeathed to her administration, as was the case of Poland, Egypt, and other economically distressed countries.

Back in 2016, when Build, Build, Build was just starting, a lot of people had doubts. One friend looked me in the eye and said, “This was another campaign promise meant to be broken.” We were likened to ardent suitors prepared to say anything. We could not blame them. At that time, it did seem impossible. Traffic in Metro Manila was costing us ₱3.5 billion a day. EDSA has exceeded its capacity by over a hundred thousand vehicles. Government projects were delayed for years — with some projects implemented only after several decades. But while we were all very familiar with this reality, it was not a reality we were prepared to accept. The Philippines was far from its full potential. To many of us, it was a chance to realize a dream. It was a chance to shape history and usher in the Golden Age of Infrastructure.” - Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo , Night Owl: A Nationbuilder’s Manual 2nd Edition (p. 112, Build, Build, Build Projects CAR Region)

Noong 2016, nag-uumpisa pa lang ang Build, Build, Build. Marami ang may duda na kaya itong isakatuparan. Tinitigan ako ng isang kaibigan sa mata at sinabing, “Isa na naman itong pangako sa kampanya na sadyang hindi tutuparin.” Inihalintulad kami sa masugid na manliligaw na handang ipangako ang lahat. Hindi ko sila masisi. Noong panahong iyon, ₱3.5 bilyon ang nawawala sa atin kada araw dahil sa trapik sa Metro Manila. Nalampasan na ng EDSA ang maximum capacity nito. Ang mga proyekto ng gobyerno ay naantala ng maraming taon o dekada. Bagama’t pamilyar tayo sa katotohanang ito, hindi kami handang tanggapin na lamang ito. Malayo pa ang Pilipinas sa buong potensiyal nito. Ito na ang pagkakataon upang matupad ang isang pangarap na hubugin ang kasaysayan at ihatid tayo sa “Golden Age of Infrastructure.” - Night Owl: Edisyong Filipino (p. 112, Ang Solusyon sa 3.5 Bilyong Pisong Pasanin)

— I tell this story not as a record of history but to explain the role the Edsa Revolution played in my understanding of who I was. Edsa was not my revolution, but it gave me a story grander than the dragon-slayers of my fairy tales. It was one part myth, two parts magic, peopled by giants, all thunder and power and bright yellow hope. It was that woman—smiling, kindly eyed Corazon Aquino—who stayed in my mind’s eye at the ringing of the morning bell when the national anthem crackled through the school loudspeaker. The brave wore yellow in my imagination. Here was our manifest destiny writ large—land of the morning, pearl of the East, cradle of the brave, whose people pushed back the guns of a dictator with no more than a prayer and a song.

The EDSA Decongestion Program, which is composed of 23 projects amounting to over ₱383 billion is well underway. Secretary Villar is confident that President Duterte’s promise of decongesting EDSA will be delivered before the end of his term. Five years after, major road and bridge projects have already been completed including the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10, the Radial Road 10 Exit Ramp, the Mindanao Avenue Extension Segment 2C, the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, the Fort Bonifacio-Nichols Road (Lawton Avenue) Widening, the Estrella - Pantaleon Bridge and the Bonifacio Global City-Ortigas Center Link Road Project, among others.

Prior to the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, average infrastructure spending for the past five decades was only at 2.5 percent of the country’s GDP. The 2015 IMF report found that the Philippines had a lower public investment in comparison to other members of ASEAN. We all know that Build, Build, Build is a program that is not only necessary but is in fact long overdue. If the Philippines is to achieve its full potential, then it must do something to cut losses due to traffic congestion in Metro Manila, which has gone up to ₱3.5 billion a day. It was at this point that Secretary Mark Villar presented the plan to decongest the 90-year-old EDSA, a 23.8-kilometer circumferential highway, which has long exceeded its maximum capacity of 288,000 vehicles a day.

In 2016, when we started Build, Build, Build, critics said that the EDSA Decongestion Program is mathematically impossible, that it could not be done, that President Rodrigo Duterte was overpromising, and that Google Maps did not support such assertion. They failed to see the bigger picture — the possibility of a 90-year-old EDSA back to its original 1930s form, a future where Filipinos do not have to debate about Metro Manila’s “true midpoint” and a reality wherein every city in Metro Manila can be accessed within a 20 to 30 minute time frame

For the first time in decades, Filipinos may opt to bypass EDSA and C5. Soon, Filipinos would be able to travel to any city in Metro Manila within a 20 to 30-minute time frame. In a few more months, we will effectively connect the 16 cities and one municipality of Metro Manila — Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Manila, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Quezon City and Valenzuela — seamlessly via a network of high standard highways and bridges.

Back in 2016, when Build, Build, Build was just starting, a lot of people had doubts. One friend looked me in the eye and said, “This was another campaign promise meant to be broken.” We were likened to ardent suitors prepared to say anything. We could not blame them. At that time, it did seem impossible. Traffic in Metro Manila was costing us ₱3.5 billion a day. EDSA has exceeded its capacity by over a hundred thousand vehicles. Government projects were delayed for years — with some projects implemented only after several decades. But while we were all very familiar with this reality, it was not a reality we were prepared to accept. The Philippines was far from its full potential. To many of us, it was a chance to realize a dream. It was a chance to shape history and usher in the Golden Age of Infrastructure.