#CourageON: Understand People Power backwards, live it forward

A few weeks ago, I was doomscrolling on Instagram when I stumbled across a famous journal entry by Danish theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. He wrote, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”

I don’t know Kierkegaard. I only found out who he was after googling the author of the journal entry. But as a Gen Z, I do know Taylor Swift, and she actually said something similar in her song “The Manuscript.” One line in that song goes, “Lookin’ backwards might be the only way to move forward.” 

I couldn’t stop thinking about those two lines while I was on the set of Rappler’s Move On: 40 Years of People Power, listening to people who took part in the historic four-day uprising in February 1986. 

Hello! I am Joan Alindogan, a community and civic engagement specialist at MovePH, Rappler’s civic engagement arm. Earlier this year, I was put in charge of our unit’s video execution for the 40th anniversary of People Power. 

I’m part of a generation that knows People Power through textbooks, headlines, and online debates. For many of us, the version we encounter depends on whatever the algorithm decides to show that day. 

It’s a blessing, really, to hear from people who were actually there. Sometimes, I hear stories coming from a person who reminds me of my parents or grandparents, a colleague I get along with, or someone I can relate to. Ordinary people. People like me.

So when we conceptualized Move On, we wanted the personal stories of relatable people to take center stage.

We invited Chito de la Vega, a newbie journalist in a newsroom loyal to dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos 40 years ago; Sister Cho Borromeo, 40 years old at that time, who insisted on going to Camp Aguinaldo despite her sick mom’s objections, even sharing chicken sandwiches with armed soldiers who could have hurt her; and Carmel Abao, a college student at that time who used to not care much about politics but later aided political prisoners under Martial Law. 

Each of them had a perspective on People Power that hit differently, but we knew it had to resonate with us, too — those who didn’t live through it but see stories about People Power all the time. That’s where Gen Z actor Jerom Canlas comes in.

Here’s the link to Move On if you haven’t watched it yet: rplr.co/VeteransGenZRememberEDSA. 

Spoiler alert: My favorite moment in the video is when Sir Chito asked Jerom if their generation failed the younger ones.

Watching that now, I realize that failure is when remembering turns into a blame game instead of an honest effort to understand the ideals and values that shaped that moment. Maybe that’s why we forget so fast, why we don’t carry its lessons forward.

Forty years later, People Power is still a work in progress. The seeds that our elders planted haven’t fully blossomed yet. Still, it’s not too late to nurture them. 

For those of us who didn’t stand at EDSA in 1986, perhaps the least we could do is to listen to those who came before us. To tell their stories over and over again. To shape what comes next. 

And maybe, that’s how we can also make our own history.

We’ve also had our reporters revisit the places where history was made. See our latest People Power videos below:

• People Power at 40: The monument symbolizing the peaceful revolution
• People Power at 40: The secret resistance in Silliman University’s Catacombs
• People Power at 40: Radio Veritas and its role in the revolution
• People Power at 40: EDSA Shrine used to be an empty lot where nuns, youth took a stand 
• People Power at 40: The Carmelite Monastery and its fearless sisters

Help us keep the stories of People Power alive. Support the kind of journalism that unmasks tyrants and inspires courage. 

Please join Rappler+. – Rappler.com