INTRODUCTION
Our memory of EDSA now spans a full ten years — a decade of strife, recovery, reconciliation, rebuilding, and moving on.

The high excitement of EDSA 1986 has receded into history. The cry of the crowds — the growl of the tanks — the flutter of helicopters — the murmurs of prayer — all of these are merely a memory for us who stood here — a veritable lifetime ago.

The relative stillness of this great avenue — our quiet coming together — all these bid us to contemplate the lessons of that epochal event in our lives, and in our country’s history.
STRENGTHENING OUR DEMOCRACY
At EDSA ten years ago, we stood up for freedom in a way that won the admiration of the world.

Yet that democracy we recovered for ourselves — in four glorious days — was a precarious one, soon to be buffeted by terrible storms — crime, insurgency and urban terrorism.

It took the nation the greater part of five years to push forward. Today, by our collective effort and economic performance, we are lifting up the common life in a manner that has once again caught the world’s attention and respect.

Philippine democracy is founded firmly today on the rule of law and the constitution, and strengthened by a resolute process of peace, development and reconciliation; and as commander-in-chief, i am proud to preside over a truly unified and professional armed forces.
THE LESSONS OF EDSA
EDSA teaches us three lessons:

The first is that full political and economic democracy cannot be won in a day — or four days — or a year — or ten years. Democracy is an endless process — a civic habit — that a people must painstakingly nurture day after day.

The second lesson is that we may undergo revolution again and again — if we do not strengthen our country economically. All the revolutions of the latter half of the twentieth century all over the world have taken place in impoverished nations.

The third and final lesson is that even if we are economically strong, we will still face the threat of upheaval — if we do not manage growth so that it brings social justice and better lives to the poor.

In a word, our EDSA Revolution is still unfinished. To accomplish the mission, we need to recapture the sense of unity — the sense of being one people — that we possessed at EDSA in 1986 and, in 1896 at Pugad Lawin and Balintawak, and at Bagumbayan.
A MORE OPPRESSIVE TYRANNY
Today — 10 years after we stood up against the guns of the dictatorship — we as a nation face a more formidable kind of tyranny.

The worst tyranny — the tyranny of poverty — still oppresses almost half of all our people.

Tyrannies we will always suffer — if we do not set aside our petty quarrels over precedence — over credit — over personal pride — over factional benefit.

On this solemn moment, let me remind you all there is enough honor — enough credit — enough glory — in the EDSA Revolution for all of us to share.

But let me also say that if we reduce the meaning of EDSA to apathy and inefficiency, to petty partisan politics, to factionalism and to the crab mentality of indifferent Filipinos — then, there will also be shame and hardship enough to cover all of us and our posterity for generations.
PEACE, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY
But peace and stability are not the only requirements for our democracy to remain vigorous and healthy. Democracy must be nurtured by economic strength and social cohesion.

The most recent indicators show that we have turned the economy around — toward self-sustaining growth.

But I would be the first to say all these economic achievements would ultimately be meaningless unless they enable us to wipe out the poverty of Filipinos.

To defeat this tyrant poverty, we need to give ordinary people a stake in our country’s development.

EDSA is commonly described as an urban, middle-class uprising. In truth, EDSA drew its inspiration from the revolution of the Filipino poor — from the sweat and toil of peasants and workers who, for nearly 400 years, staked their lives for freedom, individual dignity, and the right to live in peace.

As it was ten years ago — so should it be today: the Filipino poor are and have always been the fountainhead of every Philippine revolution. So it is only proper that EDSA should seek its ultimate meaning in their emancipation — in bringing development into their lives; in securing for them their place in the sun.
SOCIAL REFORM
This, the Ramos Administration intends to do through our Social Reform Agenda (SRA), whose immediate object is to ensure a more equitable sharing of the fruits of development and democracy.

But we cannot eradicate poverty merely through government intervention or through compassionate dole-outs. We must create more jobs — more livelihood opportunities — and raise family incomes through agricultural and industrial modernization, the expansion and small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and the competitiveness of our human resources.

Then there is primary health care which we must institutionalize. Three years ago, we had 270 doctorless municipalities out of 1,600 — now we have only 20. This may be a big change, but we should continue to reduce infant mortality, the number of undernourished children and early deaths from poverty-related diseases.

Although things are looking up too in basic education and we now have only 38 municipalities without high schools (compared to twice that number four years ago) still, we have 4,500 barangays without elementary schools (compared to some 8,000 in 1992).

Over the past three years, we brought electric power to an additional 500,000 homes and accessed telephones to our remote towns, but many more are still unconnected.

The number of cooperatives nationwide, we have increased from 9,000 in 1991 to 36,000 by the end of 1995, but we must continue to enhance their capabilities to be self-reliant and competitive.

That is where a big chunk of the economic pie is now going — to ordinary people.

Moving poor Filipinos into the national mainstream — and moving the entire country into the mainstream of the global economy — these are the directions mandated by our triumph at EDSA in 1986.

Duty bids me, as your president, to do what must be done. I must remind myself — again and again — that you elected me president to do the right thing, even if that would mean taking some bitter medicine — for me and for all of you — in order to heal the body politic.
PUBLIC SAFETY: FOUNDATION OF PROGRESS
In the building of a progressive society, there is no alternative to public safety. Public safety is the foundation of all progress — economic, political, social, cultural.

Only when all of us finally understand that we are all in this fight together — that we are all under threat from criminal violence, criminal negligence and criminal terrorism — then only will we be able to build a safer and better society. But not before.

Once we all understand this, we can more easily attack all the threats that assault our system of justice and public order: the criminal who flouts the law; the terrorist who sows fear in us; the commander who fails to exercise command; the policeman who dishonors the uniform; the judge who abuses public trust; and the prison warden who cannot keep convicts behind bars.

I have taken note of the frustrations and misgivings of our people in the slow delivery of justice, particularly in criminal cases. I have taken action on the charges against scalawags in uniform and, likewise, taken note of the complaints that some members and personnel of the lower courts are engaged in nefarious activities that taint their decisions and officials acts.

I call on the five pillars of our justice system — the judiciary; the law enforcement; prosecution; and correctional services; and the citizenry — to be more vigilant and uncompromising in cleansing and speeding the administration of justice.

I ask the Vice-President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice and the institutions which they head, to continue to support me in this crusade.

On the part of the executive branch, I also call on the cabinet and the local government executives — governors, mayors and barangay captains — to do their part.

Within the next ten days, I shall complete my review and evaluation of the performance of the members of the cabinet.
STRENGTHENING OUR UNITY
Beloved countrymen and countrywomen:

On this solemn anniversary of our redemption at EDSA — let us renew and strengthen our unity as a people, and doing so, we will endure. We will prevail — without doing violence to our democratic processes; without resorting to the curtailment of our civil liberties.

Time and again, our country summoned heroes to fight the forces and the weaknesses that impeded its growth. Time and again, our countrymen and countrywomen responded. We see those brave Katipuneros and fiery Propagandistas being reincarnated on the battlefields of Bataan and Corregidor, during the guerrilla resistance movement, during the harsh years of insurgency after the war, and at EDSA in 1986.

Unsung heroes have been there in our battles against poverty, ignorance, and disease; in our fight to keep our Republic together in the face of secession; in our struggle for civil liberties during the dark days of the dictatorship; in our efforts to protect the sanctity of the ballot; in the wake of natural and man-made disasters; and in many other crises when Filipinos rose above themselves to serve the motherland.

Exactly a decade ago today at EDSA, soldiers and ordinary people answered that same call and united for victory in a bloodless revolution against oppression. During those desperate hours of uncertainty, from the 22nd to the 25th of February 1986, the silent majority metamorphosed into a new breed of heroes and asserted the nation’s interests over and above those of a despotic corrupt regime.

In those shining days, the eyes of the world turned on the Philippines and saw what makes the Filipino great.
CLOSING
In closing, let me say that whatever the political weather brings, this president, Fidel V. Ramos, takes full responsibility for the national interest.

I will do my duty as I see fit, without any consideration of personal or partisan bias, and to be the president of all Filipinos — poor or rich, urban or provincial, Muslim or Christian, non-Muslim or non-Christian, great or small — and to be president especially of the new generation of Filipinos who were either too young or yet unborn at the time of EDSA.

We know where that struggle will end — in a nation no longer divided, no longer subdued, no longer subject to the whims of history — a united Philippines and a patriotic Filipino people.

Finally — I urge you all to rededicate our lives to a struggle that will end only when we shall have become a nation, self-reliant, free, secure and united in God’s grace and abundance.

Marami pong salamat; at mabuhay tayong lahat!