This is part of a podcast series produced by the PCIJ in 2006 to mark the 20th year of the 1986 People Power. Check our page Remembering Edsa here.
'We should awaken memory'
Singer and songwriter Jim Paredes joined June Keithley in Radyo Bandido, which broadcast news of the Edsa revolt to Filipinos. Soon after, he composed "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo," which became the Edsa anthem. After the 1989 coup attempt that nearly toppled the Aquino government, Paredes went to the U.S. embassy to surrender his green card, a symbolic act that affirmed his faith in country and democracy. In 2006, on the 20th anniversary of People Power, he migrated to Australia with his family to "take a vacation from being a Filipino." His disaffection reflects that of many among those who took part in Edsa.
Photograph by Lilen Uy
Podcasts by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
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— PCIJ, February 2022