ILOILO City – Is People Power still alive? Is the celebration of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution still relevant?
Today is the 34th anniversary of the revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Some Ilonggos shared their thoughts.
Filipinos may brag to the world having ousted a dictator but “did we move forward as a country,” asked journalist Tara Yap.
“Or are we stuck in the same system where social justice is still elusive for the majority of Filipinos,” Yap said. “We are still a country of broken democracy.”
The People Power Revolution was a series of popular demonstrations, mostly in Metro Manila, from Feb. 22 to 25, 1986.
There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against the Marcos dictatorship and electoral fraud culminating in the fleeing of Marcos, thus ending his over 20-year rule.
The majority of demonstrations took place on a long stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, more commonly known by its acronym EDSA. They involved over two million civilians, as well as several political and military groups, and religious groups.
For newspaper columnist and broadcaster Roberto Ladera, the EDSA Revolution has become irrelevant.
“People are not concerned of the past anymore but of the present and what their future will be,” he opined.
Alvin Rey Montero who is the regional secretary general of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas – Western Visayas said People Power has lost its credibility.
“Para sa akon EDSA Revolution was created to not for the benefit of the common people but to let people who were hungry for power take positions in government and satisfy their greediness. After People Power wala namang magandang nangyari. Tumaas ang singil sa kuryente at nabigyan ng pagkakataon na mahawakan ng mga oligarchs ang mga pangunahin at malalaking kumpanya sa bansa na previously involved in tax evasion and other corrupt practices,” said Montero.
Today, to mark the 34th anniversary of People Power, the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan-Panay) and other progressive groups will hold a mass mobilization at 1 p.m. The assembly areas are at ABS-CBN compound in La Paz district her and the University of the Philippines Visayas – Iloilo City campus in Molo district. Participants will march to Plazoleta Gay for a program.
For Bayan-Panay, the People Power Revolution should remind Filipinos they have real power to resist totalitarianism if they harness it.
Elmer Forro, secretary general of Bayan-Panay, warned Ilonggos that the country is again teetering towards dictatorship, citing the government’s penchant to weaponize the law to subjugate critics.
He pointed out the vilification campaign against progressive groups and leaders, the conduct of illegal house and office raids through irregularly issued search warrants, the arrest of activists and the filing of trumped up charges against them, and the assassination of human rights leaders.
Feb. 25 has been declared a special non-working holiday to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution. But in Iloilo city and province, there are no official commemorative rites today./PN
