RENAMING EDSA AFTER CORY
MANILA, NOVEMBER 25,
2011 (STANDARD) by Maricel Cruz - OPPOSITION lawmakers on
Wednesday criticized a bill seeking to rename Edsa to President Corazon Aquino
Avenue as a distortion of history and held it up as an example of politicians
using public works projects to grab credit.
The bill, filed by Bohol Rep. Rene Relampagos, would rename Metro Manila's
main highway in honor of the late President and mother of President Benigno
Aquino III.
Relampagos, a Liberal Party member like the President, said in his bill that
Mrs. Aquino should be recognized as the country's first woman President and an
icon of democracy after she led the 1986 People Power Revolution.
"She gained the respect and certainly the admiration not only of the citizens
of our country, but also of the world. She earned certain citations, and was
recognized internationally as a woman who helped pave the way for the
restoration of democracy," the bill says.
"Indeed, one cannot think of the 1986 Edsa Revolution without thinking of
Corazon Aquino. Even after her term as President of the republic, she lived her
life fighting for democracy."
Edsa, the main circumferential road and highway of Metro Manila stretching
from Caloocan to Pasay City, was formerly known as Highway 54. In 1959 Congress
renamed the thoroughfare to honor the noted Filipino historian, scholar,
journalist, painter and public servant Epifanio de los Santos.
De los Santos was considered one of the best Filipino writers in Spanish of
his time and regarded as a literary genius. He served as an associate editor of
the revolutionary paper La Independencia and co-founded other newspapers like La
Libertad, El Renaciemento, and La Democracia.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said
they supported the renaming of Edsa, and that the late President deserved the
recognition.
"It is only fitting to give full meaning to the Edsa Revolution," Evardone
said.
"The rallying point of the Edsa Revolution was Cory."
But Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, who has drafted a bill to stop politicians
from grabbing credit for projects that were built using the people's money, said
the renaming of Edsa would be a major test case for his measure.
He and Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said renaming Edsa to Cory Aquino
Avenue would be historically problematic.
"The Edsa uprising was not about Cory. It was about our people's struggle
against tyranny," Casiño said.
"The name Edsa has already been enshrined in our history and collective
memory due to the Edsa People Power Revolution. It's better left that way."
FROM MALAYA
Aquino frowns on renaming Edsa to honor Cory, says ally
BY WENDELL VIGILIA
PRESIDENT Aquino will ask the House of Representatives not to approve a bill
seeking to rename
Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) to President
Corazon C. Aquino Avenue, majority leader Neptali Gonzales II said yesterday.
"I think P-noy has so much delicadeza that he will not allow it although Tita
Cory deserves it," Gonzales said.
Bohol Rep. Rene Relampagos, in his House Bill 5422, said the mother of the
current president should be recognized for being the first woman president of
the country and an icon of democracy who led the 1986 "People Power Revolution."
EDSA, formerly known as Highway 54, is the main circumferential road and
highway of Metro Manila, stretching from Caloocan City to Pasay City. The
highway was renamed Epifanio delos Santos in 1959 in honor of the Filipino
historian.
House minority leader Edcel Lagman said the late president's legacy "as an
icon of the revival of democracy in the Philippines cannot be commensurately
recognized by renaming EDSA in her honor."
"EDSA must remain as EDSA to memorialize and immortalize the unrelenting
collective efforts of the masses of Filipinos, particularly the workers,
peasants and students, which culminated in the ouster of the Marcos
dictatorship," he said.
Lagman said the peaceful Philippine "people power" revolution is acclaimed
worldwide as the "EDSA Revolution" which he said is a "triumphant uprising not
of one person but of nameless and common Filipinos."
"EDSA must not be changed as it is a constant reminder to the tyrannical
tendencies of national leaders, now and in the future, and to uphold at all
times the supremacy of the Constitution and the ascendency of the rule of law,"
he said.
Lagman said while Relampagos has noble motives in legislating the change of
name, "such good intentions cannot justify the alteration of history."
Relampagos joined President Aquino's Liberal Party last year after the
elections. He used to be a member of Lakas, the party of former president Gloria
Arroyo.
Malacañang distanced itself from the proposal.
"It's not proper for us to comment. It's a self-serving statement if we are
to comment on that," said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda.
Lacierda, however, said President Aquino himself does not want his face or
name on billboards of government projects. – With Jocelyn
Montemayor
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
