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Focus Philippines tells its story…

The EDSA Stories Project was first envisioned, in 2003, as a documentary film project, which would be based on primary interviews with personalities who were part of or had been associated with the EDSA historic events—the 1986 EDSA People Power, EDSA Dos and EDSA Tres, both of 2001. Between 2004 and 2005, Focus on the Global South-Philippines interviewed 35 of these individuals comprising a list of what could be considered the ‘who’s who’ of EDSA: former President Fidel V. Ramos; former Vice-President Teofisto Guingona; Liberal Party stalwart and former Senator Jovito Salonga; Senator Gregorio Honasan; former Senator Wigberto Tañada; now Human Rights Commissioner Loretta Rosales; former Party-List Representative Satur Ocampo; Inquirer publisher Eugenia Apostol; human rights and women’s right advocate Sr. Mary John Mananzan; peasant leader Ka Jimmy Tadeo; urban poor leader Edwin Nakpil, among other key personalities.

As with other projects and plans that sometimes take on a different turn, EDSA Stories evolved into something else—better, we believe—as a result of either change in the membership of the project team, in external social environment or in the ideals previously conceived of. EDSA Stories has developed into a project that now has other components: this web portal, which will be a work-in-progress, video outputs from the interviews which are showcased in this multi-media platform, EDSA: The Women’s Views, which underscores the role women play in history and the EDSA Mo, EDSA Ko Video Grant, a means to continue understanding the three EDSAs and learning from them, as we motivate Filipinos, especially the youth, to contribute to current efforts for nation building.

But Focus Philippines is not abandoning its original vision of producing a film documentary—we are raring to make our own statement about EDSA. We will not shun from challenging what have become the so-called EDSA ‘myths’; we will bring out more EDSA stories told not only by personalities but by ordinary people, who are often unheard. This film will be completed in and publicly shown beginning 2011 on the occasion of Focus Philippines’ 10th anniversary.