(Due to its significance, we yield this space to the statement of CARMMA or the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law. – Ed.)
WITH OUR steadfast commitment to truth, justice and genuine freedom, we stand as one with the Filipino people in commemorating the 37th year of the EDSA People Power uprising. We remember the martyrs of martial law, and the nameless people who marched to EDSA and other centers nationwide, in the culmination of two decades of life-and-death struggle to overthrow the Marcos dictatorship.
We embrace the challenge of remembering this day under the rule of another Marcos in Malacañang. A holiday announcement on the eve of Feb. 25 is the least the Filipino people want and demand from Ferdinand Marcos Jr. We can only see it as a form of ridicule or mockery, after the dictator’s son said last year that the People Power uprising disrupted the country’s progress.
In truth, one need not look back to the fraudulent “golden years” under Marcos Sr. – the worst economic crisis is right in our midst under the dictator’s son. In less than a year, Marcos Jr. displayed his government’s inutility in controlling prices, fulfilling promises of alleviating the sufferings of farmers and the poor even when he himself is the agriculture secretary. Farmers continue to bear the brunt of ever larger imports of agricultural products, expensive farm inputs and piecemeal aid for farm expenses.
Filipinos suffer from high prices of commodities, with wages and salaries depreciating to virtual poverty levels due to inflation. As more people lose jobs, like public transport drivers facing jeepney and UV express phase-outs, more are forced to leave the country and become migrant workers. The poorest of the poor, meanwhile, have no choice but to suffer long queues waiting for one-time government dole-outs to tide them over temporarily.
Greater sufferings dawned on Filipinos under Marcos Jr. What rose back was the Marcos name, their reign, their power, along with their old-time cronies and political minions who now benefit from the lack of accountability, and the prevalence of impunity they enjoyed since the Duterte regime.
Tyrants and dictators will do anything to regain power, protect their wealth, and distort history to manipulate the people’s hearts and minds. But we strongly believe that the spirit of People Power did not fizzle out with their return. To truly remember this people power spirit is to keep the aspirations of the Filipino people alive. Thirty-seven years ago today, the people dared to dream and fight for truth, justice, genuine freedom, and the betterment of their lives. It is important to keep these dreams and the will to fight alive.
We call on the Filipino people to use the power they unleashed in EDSA 37 years ago to fight against tyranny and for genuine change.
