The left expects to become a much bigger force in the wake of the new People Power movement. This, militant leaders say, is thanks in part to a decision they made at 6 a.m. on January 20 to march from the Edsa Shrine to the Malacanang presidential palace, where Estrada was holed up. The previous afternoon, the military had sided with Arroyo and it seemed just a matter of time before she was sworn in. She and Catholic Church leaders pleaded with the people at Edsa to stay put because they wanted a crowd for her inauguration and to avoid violence with Estrada supporters at the palace gates. Most of the largely middle-class protesters heeded those calls.
Radical leaders say the march achieved two things.
First, all segments of society see it as the crucial push that toppled Estrada, helping to establish the left's credibility. Second, the high-profile break from the protesters at Edsa, who seemed content merely to see the president go, underlined that the left wants more radical change. This is a message that militants believe will play well with poor Filipinos looking for a haven for their loyalties with Estrada gone. They could be right. This underlines the need for vigilance from organized watchdogs, and Filipinos seem to have allocated that task to the militants who marched on Malacanang.