Southland Filipinos Gather for Mass, Make It a Party

Half a world away from their homeland, more than 1,000 Filipinos met for a Roman Catholic Mass Sunday to mark the downfall of deposed President Ferdinand E. Marcos and the rise of his successor, Corazon Aquino.

But, unlike so many other Masses after so many other revolutions, Sunday’s service at St. Basil Roman Catholic Church in West Los Angeles was not to mourn the dead and pray for elusive peace.

Instead, church-goers held a party.

Led by Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony, whose morning message praised the quick, nearly bloodless coup that ousted Marcos from power, Filipinos met to give thanks for the safety of family members still in the Philippines and for an end to Marcos’ 20-year rule.

“We are thankful for having our democracy back--for being free at last after 20 years of dictatorship,” said a smiling Ted Luna, an organizer of the impromptu event, which overflowed the huge church hall on Wilshire Boulevard and poured out onto the steps and sidewalks.

Filipinos ended the hourlong Mass by releasing balloons and doves and singing against a backdrop of the Filipino flag. Joining Mahony to release the white doves, symbols of peace, was Andrea Aquino-Luna, the 46-year-old niece of the new Philippines’ president.

Aquino-Luna, a Cerritos resident, said she was surprised and delighted by the smooth transition of power in her homeland, beginning with the disputed national election won by Marcos and ending with a military overthrow last month that forced Marcos to flee to Hawaii.

“I couldn’t believe we did it that easy, although we waited 20 years,” she said.

Mahony described the revolution as an example to all the world that change can occur peacefully, without “tanks and weapons and swords and hand grenades.” He described it as a testimony to the faith of the Filipino people, whose political opposition movement took roots within the Catholic Church.

“We have seen a glimpse of the glory of the Kingdom of God because we have seen a new creation taking place in the (Filipino) homeland,” Mahony said of the new government.

Those who attended the service, organized largely by word of mouth within the Filipino community, said they were, in many cases, happiest for family members and friends who still live in the Philippines.

Elena Pound, 40, of Los Angeles, said she had been very worried for her brother and two sisters who live there.

“But now everybody’s free,” she said. “This is a great celebration.”