March 2, 1986
Malaya

Reader Quirino Torres wonders about how we might decide which persons we should honor and how much we should honor them (People’s Forum, Mar. 1).

I think we should honor them in terms of not only the magnitude of their contributions but also of the uniqueness of their contributions.

For instance, how many generals other than Fidel Ramos could have rallied the military to his side? I don’t think Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Col. Gregorio Honasan could have done it by themselves.

No more than a few dozen people could have done what June Keithley did. On the other hand, there certainly must be hundreds of people who could have done even a better ghost-writing job that Teodoro M. Locsin, Jr.

Those entertainers who performed on Channel 4 should realize that though their services are valued at thousand of pesos per performance, they were merely filling up dead air time, a task that could well have been performed by an Etta Rosales who will speak anytime, anywhere for free.

At the risk of antagonizing the millions who made up the force we call "People Power", let me say that the contribution of each individual -- whether a socialite-volunteer manning a telephone at the Cojuangco building or a student manning a barricade at Channel 4 -- counts for only a drop in the proverbial bucket.

The important thing is that there were millions of us acting together -- the millions of drops-in-the-bucket became an irresistible torrent. The achievement here properly belongs to those who inspired us to rally together. A major portion of the credit should go to Jaime Cardinal Sin who (unlike Rolando Olaia, Lean Alejandro, and Etta Rosales) is not claiming the he led us.

FRANKLIN TAN