People power revolt not over; work unfinished – FVR
While the 1986 EDSA revolution remains one of the country’s “resplendent moments,” the work for deep reform remains unfinished, former president Fidel Ramos said yesterday.
Ramos was then one of the top officials – along with then defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile and then Army Col. Gregorio Honasan – who broke away from the Marcos regime and triggered the gathering of more than a million unarmed Filipinos to protect them from a military attack ordered by Malacañang.
The standoff lasted for four days and culminated in Ferdinand Marcos and his family fleeing the country.
Ramos, who turns 93 on March 18, said the peaceful revolt “represents the best in Filipinos.”
“We made history 35 years ago today when more than one million Filipinos gathered peacefully to oust a dictatorship through a bloodless revolt. We called it then, as we call it now, the People Power Revolution,”
Ramos said in a statement.
But the revolution is not over and work remains unfinished, he said, until “every Filipino enjoys the freedoms and rights embodied in our Constitution, our democracy secure and we regain our seat at the table of the community of nations.”
Meanwhile, President Duterte is expected to issue a statement for the 35th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution but as of yesterday, there was no information on whether he would take part in any of the activities commemorating the historic event.
The commemorative program for the anniversary of the popular revolt will be led by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), in coordination with the EDSA People Power Commission (EPPC), Spirit of EDSA Foundation and other national and local government agencies.
The theme of this year’s commemoration is “EDSA 2021: Kapayapaan, Paghilom, Pagbangon (peace, healing and recovery).”
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte will lead the flag-raising and wreath-laying rites at the EDSA People Power Monument today, according to a statement issued by the NHCP.
NHCP and EPPC chairman Rene Escalante, Spirit of EDSA Foundation president and EPPC commissioner Christopher Carrion and representatives from August Twenty One Movement, Chino Roces Foundation and the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission are also expected to attend the program.
“The President will issue a statement on EDSA. That (People Power anniversary) is by law made into a public holiday. Let us wait for the official statement of the President,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing yesterday.
Asked whether the President would participate in the commemoration apart from issuing a statement, Roque replied: “I have not been informed of any participation as of yet so I don’t know this information.
But I can assure there will be a statement.” Duterte, an ally of the family of the late president Ferdinand Marcos who was ousted in the 1986 revolt, has not attended EDSA anniversary rites since assuming office in 2016.
During his first year in office, Duterte allowed the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani despite opposition by human rights groups who viewed it as an attempt to rehabilitate the image of the late president.
Duterte has justified his decision by pointing out that Marcos, whose administration had been marred by accusations of corruption and cronyism, was a soldier and former president so he can be interred at the heroes’ cemetery.
Other activities for the commemoration of people power are a mass at the Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace in EDSA Shrine, the planting of bamboo trees at the Marikina Watershed and an online exhibit.
Celebrate
Some officials of the Catholic Church urged the public to join in commemorating the 35th anniversary of the EDSA revolt today, marking an important milestone for Philippine democracy after the Marcos regime.
Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo said the Filipino people should not allow actions that prevent them from expressing their freedom as he emphasized that the gains of EDSA should not be wasted.
“We should not let go of the promise of freedom of EDSA. Let us oppose all attempts to control us and to scare us off in expressing ourselves,” Pabillo said. – Paolo Romero, Alexis Romero, Robertzon Ramirez, Mayen Jaymalin