“Say you want a revolution, well, you know ...”

The Manila Bulletin headline of Aquino's assassination on August 21, 1983

My beloved Celia was never one to brag about it, but thirty-five years ago today, she helped to overthrow a government.

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By 1972, the Philippines was ruled under martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos. As time went on, his regime was the catalyst for organized corruption, and even assassination of his rivals. By 1986, the nation was on the brink of civil war. That was when the Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin, called for a peaceful protest against the regime.

Our Lady of EDSA, built in 1989 to commemorate the 1986 Revolution.

First, His Eminence contacted two orders of cloistered nuns, directing them to forgo their usual routine, and pray continuously before the Blessed Sacrament, until he told them otherwise. Then he got on Radio Veritas, and called upon his countrymen to take to the streets, to meet the soldiers guarding Malacañang (the presidential palace), and plead with them to lay down their arms. The tanks rolling down Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) were stopped in their tracks by devout Catholics on their knees, praying the rosary and singing hymns. Celia was among those who went to the soldiers' encampment, with armloads of pastries and other homemade baked goods, to win their hearts through their stomachs.

But then, there is what can be termed "the rest of the story." It has been said that the Blessed Mother herself personally interceded to stop the tanks from firing on the protesters. As the people at the front of the march watched in amazement, the men climbed out of their tanks and asked the people for rosaries, as a beautiful lady had appeared before them, commanding that they refrain from the massacre of their "kababayans" (fellow countrymen). It was then that, together, they marched on the palace. (The story itself appears on the video at 0:40.)

The rest, as they say, is history.

It became known as the “People Power Revolution” or the “EDSA Revolution” (for the avenue where events culminated, and where they did again for another overthrow in 2001). In nearly twenty years that I have known her, she has not repeated such anarchic tendencies.

Not yet, anyway.

Celia Lazaro Lauchengco Catindig, the unsung “Bayani ng Bayan” (Heroine of the Nation).