2006年VOA标准英语-Philippines Marks 20-year Anniversary of H

（单词翻译）

By Heda Bayron
Hong Kong
22 February 2006
 
 
Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos, center, jumps with others as he opens an exhibit on the 20th anniversary of People's Power in suburban¹ Makati, south of Manila, Philippines,on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006
  
In February 1986, Filipinos astonished the world by ousting² a dictator without bloodshed, an event heralded³ as a new beginning for the Philippines. But 20 years after the so-called people power uprising, there is disappointment and frustration⁴ at where the country is headed.

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When Agapito Aquino heard news of a military mutiny, he immediately swung into action. It was the early evening of February 22, 1986, and the country's police chief and defense⁵ minister had just announced they were breaking away from Ferdinand Marcos, who had harshly ruled the Philippines since 1965.

The city's Catholic archbishop, a staunch critic of Marcos, appealed for people to gather at Manila's EDSA highway, to protect the rebels.

Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos came - housewives, students, nuns⁶, priests, the rich and the poor - creating a human shield against government tanks. Aquino recalls the night.

"We were counting on Filipinos not shooting unarmed Filipinos," said Aquino.

For Aquino, it was an unexpected turn of events in the country's struggle for justice and democracy. His brother, pro-democracy opposition⁷ leader Benigno Aquino, was killed by government troops three years before.

After a four-day standoff, the people won. Without bloodshed, Marcos and his family fled the Philippines - ending 20 years of repression⁸.

Aquino, now a congressman⁹, remembers what made it all happen. "It was a combination of the outrage¹⁰ of the people, long-time anger and the real desire for change," he said.

But 20 years later, many Filipinos say they are still waiting for that change to happen. The corruption¹² and patronage¹³ characteristic of the Marcos dictatorship pervade¹⁴ today's politics.

And no government has been able to make the economic and legal reforms needed to encourage investment, increase tax collection and narrow that vast gap between the country's rich and poor.

The majority of the population is poor. High unemployment has forced millions of Filipinos to work overseas, mostly as manual laborers¹⁵.

The economy, which 50 years ago was one of the most promising¹⁶ in Asia, is now among the poorest. And the country continues to suffer from a high crime rate and a violent communist insurgency¹⁷.

While the Philippines restored democratic institutions, political analysts¹⁸ say it failed to make them work.

Professor Belinda Aquino is an expert on Philippine politics at the University of Hawaii.

"Only Marcos and his cronies were taken out. The institutions that were his instruments for his martial¹⁹ rule remained," she said. "So it was back to the same old system of corruption because these institutions that were corrupt¹¹ to begin with were never dismantled²⁰."

Analysts say the people power movement left a legacy²¹ of shortcut²² democracy - the easy abandonment of legal processes in favor of removing unpopular leaders by mass protest.

In 2001, an uprising removed president Joseph Estrada, following the collapse²³ of his impeachment²⁴ trial for corruption.

Military factions²⁵ also attempted to snatch power from civilian²⁶ presidents several times since 1986.

Critics of President Gloria Arroyo²⁷, who succeeded Estrada, now agitate²⁸ for her ouster over alleged²⁹ corruption and electoral fraud. For months, Manila has buzzed with rumors³⁰ of a coup³¹ attempt.

Miriam Coronel Ferrer, a politics professor from the University of the Philippines, says the conditions for another uprising against Arroyo are there. But she says Filipinos are also weary of people power uprisings.

"But precisely³² because people have seen that changing political leadership without further guarantees does not necessarily lead to long standing³³ changes," she said. "There's now more hesitation³⁴ to just resort to the methods that worked before."

Mrs. Arroyo Tuesday said another popular revolt would be disastrous³⁵. She said investors³⁶ would dismiss the Philippines as a "hopelessly unstable³⁷" country.

Congressman Aquino says if Filipinos truly want to rebuild their country, they should look no farther than 1986.

"It was during that time when we became selfless, there was solidarity³⁸ among the people, there was spiritually," said Aquino. "So … we just have to learn to sacrifice for the country, identify with the people and of course, learn some selflessness."

Tens of thousands of Filipinos are expected to this week to hold dozens of protests to mark the anniversary, and try to recall the spirit of first people power rebellion.