Anyare In '86

Independently Published
by Tatay Jobo Elizes, self-publisher,
in USA, February 2023

This book in 2023, formerly an ebook ANYARE IN '86? is based on the book People Power, An Eyewitness History (we will call it here "original book") which was published a few months after February 22-25, 1986 when the People Power Revolution happened. People Power, An Eyewitness History is an oral history.
A modernized version of the original book, ANYARE IN '86? uses in some parts Taglish (Tagalog and English) or Engalog (English and Tagalog). We would like to particularly address the young generation who were not born yet in 1986. Or, hmmm, for all we know, some of you
might have already joined the Revolution while still a zygote ... because millions of people came to EDSA as barricaders, even some pregnant women!
We could have given this ebook for free, but you probably know as well as we do that "those who pay, pay attention" so we have to charge a minimal amount. We do care very much that no Filipino goes through life uninformed about one's historical past, specially the immediate past which still directly impacts on the present. Say the sages:
"Ignorance is the greatest evil."
We're all in this together. Let's get to know how our fellow Filipinos had done such a great feat as this Revolution to the point that many people all over the world admired our achievement.
Why the need to write ANYARE IN '86?
Some people say that the People Power Revolution of 1986 did not happen. Others, who do concede that the Revolution indeed happened because they actually participated in it, are now blasé and are instead focused on the more immediate concerns, including the overwhelming abundance of information/misinformation floating around. Our digital age wipes out our memory so fast that we cannot anchor properly on the past... and thus, learn. The great ancients, the Greeks for instance, made "Iliad" stay around in their communities for centuries as oral tradition with the result that they were able to emulate their ancestors' heroic deeds; unlike them we cannot preserve our stories of heroism. Huwag po nating kalimutan ang "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo." The Philippine Revolution of 1986 is our gift to the world.
In this digital age, the message that gets the most attention is the superlative: loudest, newest, funniest, most colorful, most scary, most entertaining, most profitable, most urgent, etc. But do we ask: "Is it true?"
The hypnotic power of superlatives may make us jump mindlessly into the bandwagon. "Maganda si Maritess at magaling magsalita; naniniwala ako sa kanya."
We should look beyond appearances. Are we sure that what we see/hear is the truth? Reminds me of the hunter who succeeded in killing a lion bigger than himself. He wrote glowingly about his exploits... of course, but he lost contact with his companion in the savannah. Even with the help of police authorities, the other lion hunter could not be found.
What if the lion who lunched on this unfortunate hunter could write? The story would have been at once hilarious and scary, depending on which side of the fence you are in. Ahhh, some realities escape our notice, indeed... but once we get hold of a reality, of a truth, let's respect it and preserve it!
What about people who look up the clouds and invent their own "reality"... who conjure their limitless imagination and proffer it as truth? They stand on sand; when the floods come, they are drifted away downstream. Their believers slide down together with them.
To make sure that ANYARE IN '86? accurately reflects the original book, we provided the page number in it where every photo, passage, quotation or whole article, is taken. What we say here is beyond dispute because it is corroborated by the hundreds of authors ....(MORE INSIDE)