Amid diminished remembrance, student and faith-based groups recall the value of EDSA People Power

THE MARCOS administration has consistently kept the commemoration of EDSA People Power events of February 1986 in the cold. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has left the ceremonial tasks to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. 

In 2023, President Marcos Jr. issued a last-minute announcement to declare February 24, not 25, as the non-working holiday to observe the principle of holiday economics. In 2024, he did not declare February 25 as a non-working holiday, saying there was “minimal socio-economic impact” because the date fell on a Sunday.  

The government’s level of disinterest declined even further this year as February 25, a Tuesday, was classified as a “special working day,” implying that all other businesses and public affairs would proceed as usual. However, ordinary citizens took a stand, taking a 6,000-strong contingent to the streets to commemorate the historic uprising.

Schools cancel classes

More than a week before the commemoration, media reported the decision of the University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle University to cancel work and classes in observance of the historic event. Other schools in Metro Manila and in the provinces shortly followed suit. By the 25^th , over 50 academic institutions nationwide canceled their classes.

Most media captured this student-led initiative on EDSA day, with TV news interviewing students about their ideas and insights about an event that they did not witness themselves. The answers reflected their agreement that it is important to know our country’s history in order to learn from it. Philippine Daily Inquirer’s front page on February 26 featured photos of students and the headline “Students keep EDSA alive.”

Online media also reported that students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines walked out of their classrooms in protest of the university administration’s decision not to cancel classes for EDSA.

Faith-based sector joins commemoration

Faith communities, visibly represented by Catholic bishops, priests and nuns, were in attendance in public activities at the People Power Monument and EDSA Shrine – all of which were covered by TV reporters. On its front page, The Philippine Star carried the call of more than 130 Church leaders to resist oppression, emphasizing in a joint statement that “As a Church, we cannot be neutral. Silence in the face of injustice is complicity.”

In a separate report, the Star featured faith-based activities as announced by Fr. Jerome Secillano, rector of EDSA Shrine. The article also cited Secillano’s online statement saying that people can debate about the merits of People Power, but “we should not deny the fact it gave us a fresh start – the moral authority to right the wrongs and the political capital to effect social change.”

Commemoration in the provinces

The commemorative movement was not limited to Metro Manila. Rappler featured the town of Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, which was the only one in the province to suspend work and classes. Mayor Jose Nadie Arceo led his town in marking the 39^th anniversary of EDSA People Power, encouraging private institutions to take part in the observance.

In another piece, Rappler featured Joanna Cariño, co-founder of the Cordillera People’s Alliance, who emphasized that the democratic uprising did not only happen at EDSA. She recalled that her house in Baguio was a refuge for activists during the Martial Law period, standing witness to student discussions that fueled the resistance to development projects that would have negative impact on indigenous communities. 

Cariño said that the ouster of then president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1986 gave hope to Filipinos, although “oppressive structures” remained and “perpetrators and cronies stayed in power. But the youth of Baguio give her hope that systemic change can still be attained.

Some print sideline EDSA

The print editions of Daily Tribune, Manila Standard and The Manila Times stood out for their non-coverage of EDSA activities on the 25^th. Their accounts on the 26^th all carried the Palace line that the Marcos administration was not erasing the memory of EDSA People Power. Claire Castro, Palace Press Officer, said it is always the prerogative of the president to declare the date as a holiday or not, and that the public is not prohibited from joining any commemorative activity. Marcos was silent and did not issue any statement on EDSA this year.  

These three broadsheets have consistently ignored reporting on EDSA commemorative events. This year, with a Marcos in Malacañang, these news organizations reduced the movement to a mere feud between political families, amplifying with their non-coverage their own political bias for one side of the supposed conflict.

The political divide among media organizations weakens the capacity of the media as news providers. Historical events will always be part of the news as these anniversaries move through the years. Journalists must commit to the standards of newsworthiness and to accuracy, whatever their, or their owners, political biases.   

Some media did well, mining the recollections of ordinary people who took a stand and went out on February 25. It is up to journalists to keep the stories of the past alive and relevant, all the more when these events serve as turning points and decisive markers, when the majority of the national community through collective action determine the kind of political society they want for their future and for the generations to come.