Over 70 groups to hold protest rally on Edsa anniversary
A woman stands in front of the People Power Monument during a rally marking the 37th anniversary of the “People Power” revolution, which ousted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s dictator father and sent the family into exile, on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, in Quezon City on February 25, 2023. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — To mark the 39th anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, several schools and universities have announced class suspensions as more than 70 activist and civil society groups are set to hold a rally at the People Power Monument on the historic thoroughfare.
Schools such as the Immaculate Conception Academy, La Salle Green Hills, Saint Pedro Poveda College, and Xavier School issued a joint statement on Monday “reaffirming the continuing significance of Feb. 25 as the anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution.”
The schools, which call themselves part of the “Edsor” consortium, after the Edsa-Ortigas Avenue area where they are located, said they would observe the date as a special nonworking holiday.
READ: Marchers: ‘Edsa celebration doesn’t depend on gov’t; we are People Power’
In 2024, the People Power anniversary was not included in the Palace’s list of official national holidays, nonworking days, and special nonworking days — this year, Feb. 25 was declared a special working holiday.
Article continues after this advertisementThis, however, was in contrast to the past commemorations of the Edsa anniversary as a school holiday on Feb. 22 (by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Proclamation No. 1841 issued in 2009) and on Feb. 25 (by then President Benigno Aquino III’s Proclamation No. 295 issued in 2011).
Article continues after this advertisementPresident Ferdinand Marcos Jr. removed the anniversary of the Edsa Revolt — which ousted his father and namesake after a 20-year rule — on the list of holidays late in 2023, more than a year into his presidency.
But earlier that year, he issued a message on Feb. 25 saying that, “As we look back at this fateful moment in our country’s history, we remind ourselves that despite the polarizing and divisive nature of our politics, it is our capacity for peace, unity, and reconciliation that made us great and worthy of global acclaim as a people.”
De La Salle University and the University of Santo Tomas had also earlier announced the cancellation of classes on Feb. 25 and encouraged students to take part in activities to commemorate the event.
Meanwhile, groups that make up the Taumbayan Ayaw sa Magnanakaw at Abusado Network Alliance (Tama Na) said the Feb. 25 protest would call out corruption in government, the rising prices of goods, and the “unfulfilled promise” of P20 rice per kilo that Marcos had made during the 2022 presidential campaign.
The protest rally also aims to underscore such issues as the national budget and its controversial allocations.
“We want to emphasize the true spirit of Edsa, the collective aspiration to call for change in society,” Tama Na convener David San Juan said in a press conference on Monday.
Tama Na also called for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte to “begin immediately.”
Lawyer Jojo Lacanilao of the Duterte Panagutin Campaign Network said Duterte must be prevented from becoming another “dictator.”
“[O]ur generation that faced the dictatorship [during martial law,] we saw everything. All the torture, the plunder, [all] kinds of evil… However, it seemed like our generation was lacking. We weren’t able to fix the education [system] in order to teach the right history for the future generations,” he said.
“The net effect is here we are again, Marcos Jr.,” Lacanilao said. “[That’s why] we are calling for accountability. There should not be another [person] who wants to be a dictator, one family ruling [the country] … So we really need to remove VP Sara.”
