Rallying The People For A Common Cause

Mass actions or rallies are not new. There was no record in history as to who invented it or where was the first mass action held. I would believe that being an invention, it must have borne out of necessity. When is a mass action needed? We all know the answer to this question. We need mass action as a reaction to something that will seriously affect the people. And what actions are supposed to affect the people? It’s the actions of government that could negatively impact to the people’s well-being that we are looking into. This definitely is the scenario why people act massively against their government.

So what’s the latest about the mass actions in the Philippines? In my life, I have seen and experienced so many of them and we all know that in the history of our nation, the two (2) really big mass actions, EDSA One and EDSA Dos resulted to changes in our government. In recent days, there had been attempts to launch rallies that would approximate the two (2) great events in our history but none has been successful so far. To my belief, failure is not caused by having no reason to launch such kind of mass action but more because of uncertainty of what would be the results of such action.

This blog would not deal in details why mass actions were held and became successful nor why some movements failed to muster enough support and did not succeed to topple the immediate past dispensation. I write this blog to describe how rallies are prepared and done in the past compared to how they are organized and held at present, I was an active participant of rallies during my college days and was also part of EDSA One and EDSA Dos so what I would be telling here are my experiences and not just what I read and hear in news reports.

In the old days prior to the declaration of Martial Law in late 1972, student rallies were held almost everyday such that classes were practically halted in all levels. That was when the so-called First Quarter Storm started but not without the full knowledge of the cause of such mass actions. College students and some who are still in high school held teach-in sessions in some underground places to be informed of the ill-goings as well as what can be done to stop such wrongdoings in the different agencies of the government.

In those days, seldom will you come across a rally participant who doesn’t know what he is fighting for. No one was paid to join rallies and mass actions. Rallyists were there on their own to fight for the cause they believe in. Let me say also that among the participants, there were no politicians with expressed ambitions to run for any position should they succeed with what they were fighting for.

Nowadays, it’s a bit different. While some rally leaders know the cause and have all the good intentions in fighting for such cause, well-known politicians are also around to peddle themselves as alternatives to the present dispensation. Ordinary rallying folks are enticed to join with promises of something in return. It’s no longer knowing the cause and fighting for solutions to the problems. It’s more of what they could immediately get after the mass action. What a big difference indeed!