IN the last 26 years, Filipinos troop to EDSA to celebrate and commemorate a brief shinning moment in the nation’s history that led to the dismantling of the Marcos dictatorship on Feb. 25, 1986.
The 31-kilometer, 10-lane stretch, the birthplace of people power, has since been most identified with the Filipino. It has in fact become the Filipino.
“It’s a microcosm. Ito po ay nagpapakita ng kagandahan at minsan naman po yung hindi kagandahang aspeto ng ng ating lipunan (It shows the good and sometimes not so good aspect of our society),” said Francis Tolentino, chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, the agency in charge of clearing the traffic jams that have characterized EDSA today.
“Yung walang disiplina kita natin yan sa pagmamaneho. Subalit sa kabila makikita natin yung mga kababayan natin nagsusumikap—yung ating mga sidewalk vendors sa Cubao, nakikita nyo po yung mga galing ng lalawigan na bumababa sa mga bus terminals natin naghahanap ng mga bagong oportunidad sa kalakhang Maynila. Nakikita nyo po yung pagsusumikap ng ating mga kababayan, lahat po yan dumadaloy po sa EDSA (The lack of disclipine is seen in the drivers. But we also see how hardworking Filipinos are—the sidewalk vendors in Cubao, those from the provinces who get off bus terminals looking for opportunities in Metro Manila. All of them pass through EDSA),” said Tolentino.
EDSA mirrors a pronounced societal gap that is reflected in almost every section of the highway, from the expensive, handsome cars that speed past old, beat-up vehicles to the exclusive villages and dilapidated shanties that line the highway.
But EDSA is more than the bottlenecks and its reflections.
“EDSA is our main artery. It could make or break us in terms of pollution, in terms of economy, in terms of our utilization of time. It’s right in the middle of the metropolis so lahat talaga nakatuon ang pansin dyan sa EDSA. Pagkanagka-bara dyan sa EDSA (All attention is focused on EDSA. So when EDSA gets choked) you practically choke the whole metropolis, so that’s how important it is,” said Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson.
At least 350,000 vehicles and more than a million people crowd EDSA every day. With 17 shopping malls, eight condominiums, four hotels, 16 motels, 12 schools, 11 private and markets, 24 bus terminals, 31 gas stations, the highway that cuts through seven of 13 cities in Metro Manila—Kalookan, Quezon City, Pasig, Mandaluyong, Paranaque, Makati, and Manila—is literally bursting at the seams.
Tolentino said: “(There are) 1,200 vehicles per lane per hour ang EDSA. So more than the carrying capacity na pero hindi lang po yan ang pinag-uusapan (but that’s not the only thing we’re talking about). You talk about pollution, added fuel cost, burden to the economy, lost man man-hour productivity, ang daming problema niyan eh (There are so many problems).”
Experts and officials trace the problem to, at the very least, a failure in planning as a consequence of the absence of political will and lack of foresight, among others.
“It used to be a secondary road and all of a sudden it became the primary road,” Singson said.
The chockfull EDSA was not in the 1939 masterplan that saw the highway as a mere shortcut out of Manila and an alternate route to Quezon City, which was envisioned to be center of government that should decongest Manila.
University of the Philippines history professor Ricardo Jose said the plan did not foresee the galloping Philippine population that now stands at 101 million with no less than 12 million residing in Metro Manila.
According to architect Paulo Alcazaren, the government failed to enforce the zoning rules over time because of land speculation and development opportunities. The result, he said, is an urban planner’s nightmare that is EDSA.
“Naghanap na lang ng balanse yung lungsod. At lumabas, ang pinakamagandang lugar na magtayo at mag develop ay yung lugar sa pinakadulo o pinakafringe ng Metro Manila, yan yung dinedefine ng EDSA (The city was looking for balance. And it turned out that the best place to develop was on the fringe of Metro Manila. That’s what EDSA defines),” said Alcazaren, an urban planner.
The problem persists that somehow explains the seeming construction orgy along EDSA. Construction permits are issued by local government units, which are empowered by the Local Government Code to craft and enforce their own land use plan.
Tolentino rues the absence of a comprehensive land use plan in relation to EDSA.
“There is an ongoing competition among the LGUs involved to spur their own economic growth pero wholistically hindi natin masasabi na tama in the long run dahil iba-iba ho yung konsepto (we can’t say it’s right in the long run because different concepts are applied) in terms of integration yung sa road system, traffic system. You also have to look forward to what would happen 10 years, 20 years from now. Baka wala na tayong (We might have no) parking space,” said the MMDA chairman.
Long before the 1986 people power revolution, EDSA had already carved a niche in history as a path to freedom.
According to Jose, American and Filipino soldiers passed through what we now know as EDSA, then referred to by American soldiers as Route or Highway 54, in going to Bataan.
“Nung idineklara ni MacArthur na open city yung Manila, hindi na pwedeng dumaan sa Manila yung mga military forces so dumaan sila sa Highway 54. It served the purpose na legally hindi sila dadaan sa Manila pero sa environs ng Maynila (When Douglas MacArthur declared Manila an open city, the military forces were prohibited from passing through Manila, so they passed through Highway 54, or in the environs of Manila),” he said.
Looking at EDSA today, the UP Philippine history professor, whose field of specialization is the American period, sees more than just a failure in planning. The more striking and clearest disappointment to him is the state of total memory loss of the Filipino about the man after which the country’s busiest highway was named.
“Makikita natin yung pagkukulang ng mga Pinoy, and one thing very clear there of course is nakalimutan na natin kung sino si Epifanio de los Santos (We see the shortcoming of Filipinos, and one thing very clearer there of course is they have forgotten who is Epifanio de los Santos). He was a second Rizal. Sinundan niya yung (He followed the) footsteps ni Rizal, yung trying to reconstruct who’s the Filipino,” said Jose.
A genius like Dr. Jose Rizal who excelled in every field that he ventured into, De los Santos was a journalist, historian, poet, painter, pianist and sculptor, among other things. He wrote extensively about the Philippine revolution and the biographies of Emilio Aguinaldo, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and Gregorio del Pilar.
“Up to that time, 1910’s ito, hindi pa natin masyadong naiintindihan yung buong kasaysayan ng rebolusyon so inukit ni de los Santos ito. Binuhay niya yung mga major figures nung revolution. Kung sino tayo parang siya ang nagbuhay ng ano ba talaga yung rebolusyon, sinu sino ba yung mga tao dun, sino ang leader so kung wala siya, we would not have the knowledge of the revolution. Kung wala yung initial foundation na yun, mawawala tayo (This was the 1910’s and we didn’t quite understand the whole history of the revolution, so De los Santos recorded it, bringing to life the major figures of the revolution. He reminded us what the revolution was about, who were the people there, who were the leaders. Without him, we would not have the knowledge of the revolution. We’d be lost without that initial foundation),” said Jose.
De los Santos was the pride of Rizal province, which covered most parts of EDSA when it was still known as Highway 54 until the early part of 1959. He died in 1928.
Today, Filipinos hardly know who is De los Santos.
Tolentino, who deals with EDSA’s daily problems, said as much: “Marami hong hindi nakakaunawa kung ano yung ginawa nya. So siguro ho dapat usisain muli yan kung ano yung kahalagahan nga nung buhay din ni Ginoong Epifanio de los Santos (Many don’t understand what he did. So perhaps we should re-examine the importance of Mr. Epifanio de los Santos’ life).”
Peter Uckung, senior researcher of the National Historical Institute, provides some food for thought for every Filipino: “Ang sinasabi ng kasaysayan dahil ipinangalan nga sa kanya, siya ay dapat tuluran. Ngayon kukwestyunin mo na paano mo tutularan si Epifanio delos Santos (History tells us the street should be named after him, he should be emulated. Now the question is, how can you be like Epifanio de los Santos).”
In knowing EDSA the man, the nation might still find the true Filipino.
