The Role of ICT in the Second EDSA Revolution
The Second EDSA Revolution, also known as EDSA Dos or the Second People Power Revolution, was a series of peaceful protests from January 17 to 20, 2001, against former president Joseph Estrada. This historic event in Manila, Philippines, ultimately resulted in his peaceful overthrow. However, did you know that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) played a significant role in making this revolutionary movement successful?
The impeachment trial of former president Joseph Estrada began on December 7, 2000, but the true catalyst of EDSA Dos occurred on January 16, 2001. On that day, 11 out of 21 senators voted to block the opening of a sealed envelope that contained valuable evidence of Estrada’s corruption and hidden wealth. This obvious attempt to suppress the truth was met with public outrage as Filipinos took to the streets to express their frustration and desire for justice. As tensions reached a breaking point, ICT played a pivotal role in gathering the masses. According to Uy-Tioco (2003), a writer and witness to the events, she and millions of other Manila residents received a flood of text messages urging them to gather at the Edsa Shrine to protest the Senate vote that could have cleared Estrada. Some of the texts read “FULL MBLSN 2DAY EDSA” (“Full mobilization today at Edsa”) and “GO 2 EDSA. WEAR BLACK 2 MOURN D DEATH F DEMOCRACY” (“Go to EDSA. Wear black to mourn the death of democracy”). Within 75 minutes after the abrupt stop of the impeachment proceedings, 20,000 people had assembled on Edsa.
Although it is hard to verify where the text messages originated today, it can be said that during the EDSA Dos, technologies like cell phones and email brigades helped spread the news and pass information quickly — subsequently allowing the Second People Power Revolution to happen faster.
I was not yet born during the Second EDSA Revolution, so it is no surprise that I hadn’t heard about the role of text messages in those peaceful protests until now. After researching, I was inspired by the unity and kabayanihan of Filipinos. It warms my heart to see that this technology was not reduced to spreading propaganda or reporting on protesters but instead called people to come together. More importantly, I learned how crucial ICT was in organizing EDSA Dos. Reading the text messages sent during that time gave me chills. While it looks quite silly with the shorthand now, I can still feel the desperation and frustration these messages portray.
REFERENCES
Camus, Michael. 2024. “Ousting Erap: The Second People Power Revolution.” Sinaunangpanahon. https://sinaunangpanahon.com/ousting-erap-the-second-people-power-revolution/.
Court, Julius. n.d. “People Power II in the Philippines: The First E-Revolution?” United Nations University. https://archive.unu.edu/p&g/wga/publications/people_power_ii.pdf.
Rafael, Vincente. 2003. “The Cell Phone and the Crowd: Messianic Politics in the Contemporary Philippines.” Public Culture 24, no. 47 (December): 3–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01154451.2003.9754246.
Tinampay, Sherwin. 2022. “The Correspondents CA Throwback: Kontrobersiyal na envelope na naging mitsa ng EDSA Dos noong 2001.” ABS-CBN News. https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/01/22/22/balikan-bakit-nagkaroon-ng-edsa-dos-noong-2001.
Uy-Tioco, Cecilia Alessandra S. 2003. “The Cell Phone and Edsa 2: The Role of a Communication Technology in Ousting a President.” George Mason University. http://mason.gmu.edu/~cuytioco/papers/edsa2cellphones.pdf.
