No EDSA rites at Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Contrary to what the EDSA People Power Commission has announced, this year’s EDSA anniversary will not be held at the Palace grounds, as President Aquino reportedly preferred to spend the day with the victims of calamities in the Visayas.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said yesterday it was Aquino’s wish to transfer the EDSA celebrations from Manila to Cebu.

Coloma said the President wanted to revisit the areas affected by natural calamities before he leaves for Malaysia for a state visit on Feb. 27 to 28.

He said this year’s EDSA celebration would be themed “Kapit-bisig Tungo sa Pagbangon.”

“The President said it was important to rally people in areas affected by calamities in order to rekindle the spirit of EDSA People Power in rebuilding better communities. Hence the original plan to hold the event in Malacañang was shelved,” he said.

The Palace official said the traditional Salubungan or reenactment of the meeting between the civilian and the military participants of the EDSA People Power would be held on the morning of Feb. 25 at the Cebu provincial capitol grounds.

He said Cebu was chosen to be the venue for the EDSA anniversary celebration this year as the province was the bulwark of the opposition to the dictatorship during the martial law regime.

“It was in Cebu where then Mrs. Corazon Aquino stayed when the military defected from President Marcos on Feb. 22, 1986.”

Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda refused to comment on the matter, saying his office is not in charge of the 28th EDSA anniversary celebrations.

“I suppose there was a change of plans and the President prefers to spend his days next week with the survivors of Typhoons Pablo and Yolanda,” Lacierda told journalists in a press briefing.

As far as he knows, Lacierda said Aquino would be visiting Cateel town in Davao Oriental, which was hit by Typhoon Pablo in 2012; Cebu and Bohol, which were struck by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in 2013, and the Yolanda-devastated province of Leyte.

He said the President would attend “town hall meetings” in Cebu and in other areas, although he did not say whether this would be the final schedule.

“This is only what I know based on the media advisory. But basically we will refer to the EDSA People Power Commission. We don’t have a hand in the planning of the EDSA celebration,” Lacierda clarified.

He expressed belief the President wants to spend EDSA with the victims of natural calamities, to be in solidarity with the people.

“The EDSA celebration has always been symbolic. You remember the solidarity of the Filipino people that February in 1986,” Lacierda said.