Bayanihan and culture in political rallies

CHANGES. As I move to a new column schedule from Saturday to Tuesday, by the time you read this, we probably would already know who our president-apparent and vice president-apparent are. But as I am writing this, I still have to head to the polls in this divisive and toxic, yet awesome, exciting and hopeful election.

This column focuses on history, but as you know, we see the past in the present because the past is prologue. When I was a young boy, I used to read about what happened during the Ninoy Aquino funeral on Aug. 31, 1983, the snap elections of 1986 and the EDSA People Power Revolution from Feb. 22 to 25, 1986, and I was quite envious of those who experienced them, described by Jim Paredes in a song, "Magkasama nang mahirap at mayaman, kapit-bisig madre, pari at sundalo, naging langit itong bahagi ng mundo." Subsequently, I attended some political demonstrations.