PH gets piece of Berlin Wall for EDSA ‘inspiration’

Ayee Macaraig

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PH gets piece of Berlin Wall for EDSA ‘inspiration’
'EDSA People Power was an inspiration to Prague’s Velvet Revolution, which in turn was an inspiration to the Fall of the Berlin Wall'

MANILA, Philippines – For its 1986 People Power Revolution that sparked freedom movements worldwide, the Philippines will soon get its own piece of the Berlin Wall, whose fall symbolized the end of oppression and division.

The Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday, December 3, that a piece of the historic wall will arrive in the Philippines in early 2015. The announcement comes as the world marks the 25thanniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Philippine Embassy in Berlin already received the section of the wall from the Berlin Senate Chancellery. Chargé d’affaires Mardomel Melicor accepted the deed of donation that Berlin’s city government executed to present a section of the wall to “the citizens of Manila.”

“The Berlin Senate noted ‘it was happy that part of the Berlin Wall would stand in Manila as a monument to remember that it was possible to successfully overcome and reunify divisions in Berlin and Europe,’” the DFA said in a statement on Wednesday, December 3.

The Philippines will get a piece of the Berlin Wall designated as number 22 in a series of 40 sections that used to be located in Potsdamer Platz, a former rural thoroughfare that was ravaged during the Cold War. Potsdamer Platz now stands as a symbol of urban renewal in Berlin, and is one of Europe’s busiest public squares.

The section of the wall that the Philippines will get is 3.65 meters tall and 1.2 meters wide.

For 28 years, the Berlin Wall divided the German city, and symbolized the Cold War split of East from West Germany, and that of eastern and western Europe. Dubbed the Wall of Shame, it prevented the mass emigration and defection that marked East Germany, and the communist Eastern Bloc after World War II.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, slabs of it have been on display in various parts of the world. They can now be found in different public spaces, like the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and the Newseum in Washington DC.

‘Rectifying political amnesia’

INSPIRED BY EDSA. Chargé d’affaires Mardomel Melicor (left) receives the document that transfers to the Philippines a piece of the Berlin Wall, whose fall was reportedly inspired by the Philippines' EDSA People Power Revolution. Photo from the Department of Foreign Affairs

The story of how a piece of the wall comes to Philippine soil dates back to 15 years ago.

In a September article for the Manila Bulletin, former Philippine Ambassador to Berlin Jose Abeto Zaide wrote that the move started with a visit in 1999 to the Gropius Museum, which featured “monumental events leading to the next millennium.”

“I was distraught to find that for the exhibit curator, the most significant event in 1986 was Steffi Graf winning the Wimbledon. Somehow, those with short memory forgot that in an archipelago 10,000 miles away, Cory Aquino brought down a strongman with EDSA People Power,” the ambassador said.  

Zaide was referring to the peaceful demonstrations that led to the fall of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. The widow of slain Senator Benigno Aquino Jr challenged Marcos, and led the movement that sparked his downfall.

“Somehow, they forgot what Vaclav Havel remembers: that EDSA People Power was an inspiration to Prague’s Velvet Revolution, which in turn was an inspiration to the Fall of the Berlin Wall. At the Checkpoint Charlie museum, EDSA and Cory Aquino are a small footnote.”

Zaide said he was then bent on “rectifying” the “political amnesia.” The Embassy worked to acquire a piece of the Berlin Wall for EDSA.

The plan was supposed to push through during a visit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to Berlin in 2001. The then chief executive was supposed to the sign the Golden Book at the Berlin city hall as a requirement for the turnover.

Yet 9/11 led to the cancellation of her Davos meeting and her European trip.

“As insurance, the Embassy marked ‘X’ the reserved Berlin Wall panel for the Philippines; and Consul Tito Ausan had his photo next to it to stake ownership and wrote a famous Filipino graffiti, ‘Bawal…dito.’”

Soon, Filipinos will get to see a part of the famed wall, and that naughty graffiti. – Rappler.com

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