Here are three things that are near and dear to a lot of Filipinos: Nadine Lustre, the concept of celebrity lookalikes, and EDSA Revolutions. Never thought you’d see all three of them together in a sentence? A viral TikTok on EDSA II might just tickle your fancy.
The search for Lustre’s rallying doppelgänger was set off when Defensa Filipina, a local history video archive, posted a TikTok on Feb. 18 containing clips from AP Archive’s video titled “Philippines: Protestors Demand Resignation Of President.” The TikTok starts with a snippet of a young protester presumably giving her reason for participating in the EDSA II Revolution. “Because this country is really going down into the pits. We don’t have hope unless our president steps out of office,” she says without missing a beat.
The demonstrations, held in January 2001 at the Edsa Shrine, led to former president Joseph Estrada getting ousted from office.
@defensafilipina♬ original sound – 🤍
Netizens commented that the yet to be identified protester slightly resembled Lustre. And we can kind of see where they’re coming from. She does seem like a bare-faced Lustre circa 2016, with her morena beauty and straight hair. Who knows? Maybe if the actress were born any earlier, she would have joined the protest, too. Remember her #SONAgKAISA placard in 2020?
It’s fun to join the quest to find out whose palaban mom or tita the mystery woman is. But while we’re at it, we should also acknowledge the significance of EDSA II footage in our fight for a better future and against historical revisionism. It’s invigorating to see large-scale protests and how fiercely its attendees wish to protect our country’s democracy. Are we going to let their efforts go to waste?
Too often have we allowed politicians found guilty of plunder, like Estrada, make comebacks despite having abused their power after being trusted by the public to be of service. Hopefully, we won’t commit the same mistake in the upcoming elections by paying attention to red flags among political bets.
Art by Pammy Orlina
Photo by Romeo Gacad/AFP
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