Not a holiday? It’s up to people to continue EDSA legacy, says Cory’s grandson 

The spirit of the EDSA People Power Revolution will linger regardless of a holiday declaration, the grandson of former President Corazon Aquino and ex-senator Ninoy Aquino. 

“I think ang nangyari ngayon, naging malinaw yung hamon na ipagtanggol yung diwa ng People Power ay sa taong bayan, hindi manggagaling sa gobyerno. Dati kasi executive order lang yung paggawa na special non-working holiday nito. Nakita natin na pwede ipaggkait sa taong bayan,” said Kiko Aquino Dee in a chance interview. 

(I think what happened today made it clear that the challenge to defend the spirit of People Power lies with the people, not the government. Before, making it a special non-working holiday was done simply through an executive order. We’ve seen now that it can be withheld from the people.) 

“Isinusulong natin yung batas, pero ang malinaw, maisabatas man ‘yan o hindi, nasa atin yung responsibilidad na sariwain yung legacy nito,” he added. 

(We are pushing for the law, but what’s clear is that whether it is passed or not, the responsibility to keep its legacy alive lies with us.) 

February 25 used to be a non-working holiday. But in 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator, moved the February 25 special non-working day to February 24, a Friday, citing holiday economics.

In the following years, February 25 was no longer declared a regular or special holiday. 

With this, lawmakers in the House of Representatives filed a bill declaring February 25 a regular holiday. 

Meanwhile, Kalookan Bishop Cardinal Pablo Virgilio "Ambo" David said there’s no stopping everyone from celebrating February 25 to commemorate the bloodless revolution that ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. 

“I'm not even surprised about that. Sino ba ang ibinagsak ng EDSA People Power? Diba? Obviously, nandudoon pa rin sila sa ilusyon na yung years of dictatorship were the golden age,” he told reporters. 

(I'm not even surprised about that. After all, who was it that the EDSA People Power overthrew? Right? Obviously, they are still under the illusion that the years of dictatorship were the 'golden age.’) 

But Malacañang earlier said that President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr, the namesake of the late dictator, would study the proposal to declare February 25 every year as a regular holiday in commemoration of the EDSA People Power Revolution.

On the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, over 3,000 individuals in white shirts gathered near the EDSA People Power Monument in White Plains Avenue, Quezon City, for the third iteration of the “Trillion Peso March” - a massive demonstration calling for action against corruption. 

Dee, one of the program’s organizers, said that the unsatisfying developments in the anti-corruption efforts led to another protest. 

“Hindi pa rin katanggap-tanggap yung daloy ng anti-corruption ng ating pamahalaan. Bagamat mayroon namang mga big fish na nakulong and kailangan kilalanin ‘yun, pero yung mga malalapit sa Pangulo ay nakakalusot,” he said. 

(The flow of our government's anti-corruption efforts is still unacceptable. While there are 'big fish' who have been imprisoned—and we must acknowledge that—those who are close to the President are getting away with it.) 

“So kailangan natin mag-organisa ulit upang ipaalala sa pamahalaan na hindi pa nakakalimot yung taong bayan na nagsilabas nang todo-todo nung Sept. 21. Bagamat mas kaunti ngayon, bagamat mas kaunti ngayon, malinaw sa mga survey na galit pa rin sila pagdating sa isyu ng corruption,” he added. 

(So we need to organize again to remind the government that the people, who came out in full force last Sept. 21, have not yet forgotten. Although there are fewer people now, it is clear in the surveys that they are still angry when it comes to the issue of corruption," he added.) 

Progressive groups troop to EDSA Shrine 

Meanwhile, progressive groups marched towards the EDSA Shrine in Ortigas to hold a separate gathering. 

“Today’s rally is militant, defiant, has no qualm about naming the two highest officials of the land as corrupt, and acknowledges the different alternatives to the rotten system,” said BAYAN president Renato Reyes Jr. in a message. “We believe sovereignty resides with the people.” 

Several protesters were able to break through a police blockade along the EDSA-Ortigas interchange. 

“As we said last week, today we will assert people power over police power and state power. And we did. The people successfully defied the police blockade and reached EDSA Shrine. The police blockade was totally unnecessary and unjustified. It was a display of fascist power on the day we commemorate ‘people power,’” said Reyes in another statement. 

“It was the police who caused inconvenience to the public. We congratulate the people who stood up and asserted their rights.” —LDF, GMA Integrated News