The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People-Power Apocalypse

by Quijano de Manila, Nick Joaquín

Four days...February 22,23,24,25 in 1986. The historical days when "the Filipino people shook off the yoke of a fascist dictatorship".

Genres: Nonfiction, History

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Pen name of Nick Joaquin.

Reviews

[Jeetsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, succinct and (most importantly) FACTUAL accounts of People Power and Martial Law such as this need to be read, re-read, distributed and republished, if only to counter the lies, misinformation and historical revisionism being peddled by the Marcoses to rehabilitate their legacy of murder and thievery. Sure, this book should be read for its eloquent prose (it is, after all, written by Nick Joaquin). But more importantly, it should be read so that people who never had to live through those dark times learn what it was like from people who did. Never Forget. Never Again.

[nicolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

“When we did not explode against that boot on our necks—that was the astonishment. When we let some fourteen long years pass with that boot on our necks—that was the astonishment. But when on the plenary nights of the tiger moon 1986 we rose against the boot on our necks—that was no astonishment. We were back to the regular, the everyday, the traditional. We had returned to normal. Because we have decided we were to have a future again, a tomorrow again, and that we didn’t have to resign ourselves to a numbing prospect of one damnable Marcos after another. This is a revolutionary decision completely in keeping with our history, where the rate of insurrections, especially during the colonial period, comes to one revolt per year. And that’s when we mean when we argue that our 1986 tiger moon was no ‘astonishment’ but the customary, the accustomed, the habitual, the traditional, the normal. The Pinoy was back to his usual form. So spare us your bravos.”

[Harold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written shortly after the events of 1986, it is a time capsule written by Nick Joaquin that offers a peek into those times. It provides a contrast on how different things have turned out almost four decades since and how some of the players still living (or during their lifetimes) have changed their tune compared to what they said at the time.

[graffritil]

babagsak at babagsak mga pasista.