Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim Is A Fake EDSA 1 Hero

FROM A DISTANCE By Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star) Updated February 28, 2010 12:00 AM

In deference to the request of Jocelyn Dawis-Asuncion, daughter of Col. Jose H. Dawis who was the Chief of Police of Quezon City during EDSA 1, I am giving her space in today’s column.

She was indignant at the continuous misrepresentation of the facts repeated by her father’s boss then, Gen. Alfredo Lim who by the way is running for reelection as Mayor of Manila. She believes that Lim is burnishing his image for cheap politics at the expense of her father.

Lim used an excerpt from Nick Joaquin’s book as EDSA’s untold story finally narrated.

Here is her version of events told and retold to her by her father while he was still alive. Hers is the real untold story, not Lim’s but she did not know of any journalist who might take it up.

“Each year, every February, stories like this (published in another newspaper, not The STAR) will come out in the papers. My dad, Colonel Jose H. Dawis, the then Chief of Police of Quezon City during the time of the EDSA 1, will always tell us the story of his Commanding General who was cowardly hiding in small Antique shop in P. Tuazon the whole time laden with fear and who actually ordered him to disperse the crowd of EDSA at all cost upon orders of then President Ferdinand Marcos.

My dad, who had less than 300 people under him at the time, was ordered by Gen. Alfredo Lim to disperse the crowd of more than 100,000 and Gen Lim promised him 500 men will come from the military. My dad stood his ground and told Gen. Lim that he will not disperse the crowd who were just expressing their grievances peacefully. He got mad with my Dad’s response and started to berate my dad. My dad did not follow the orders of his superior officer. It did cross his mind that this may break his career but he stood by his decision anyway.

Sen. Butch Aquino is witness to this because my dad has always dealt with him when they would go to Quezon City to hold demonstration rallies. My dad, the Chief of Police of Quezon City, had developed a very good relationship with the opposition leaders led by Sen. Butch Aquino and then students leaders like Lean Alejandro, Senator Kiko Pangilinan, Chito Gascon and Mike Defensor. He would always allow them to protest peacefully in Quezon City and after a few hours the protestors will disperse without any incidence of violence.

It is unfortunate that my dad is not here anymore to refute all the lies peddled by General Lim. Through the years, he kept his silence knowing in his heart who the real EDSA hero is.

But I will not keep my silence. I know who the real EDSA hero is.

It is my father not General Lim. If my Dad is indeed General Lim’s friend as he claims, I wish he would stop using the name of my father and dishonoring him.

My dad is one of the real heroes of EDSA and should be counted among the hundreds of thousands of people who fought the oppression of the Marcos regime.

Source: manilawatch