Marcos drops EDSA People Power Anniversary as holiday

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. dropped a public holiday marking the anniversary of a revolution that ousted his father, an official document showed Friday, reigniting accusations he is trying to whitewash his family's past. 

A military-backed "People Power" revolt in February 1986 ended the brutal rule of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and forced the disgraced family into exile in Hawaii.

Critics have described the Marcos dictatorship as a dark period of human rights abuses and corruption that left the country impoverished.

February 25 was declared a "special national holiday" in 2000 by then-president Joseph Estrada. Rights activists typically hold rallies on the day to commemorate the restoration of democracy.

Marcos Jr. was elected to the presidency in 2022 following a massive social media misinformation campaign that attempted to paint his family's history in a more positive light.  

Many had expected Marcos to abolish the public holiday after taking office. Instead, he moved the date for the "EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary" holiday to February 24 this year, which was a Friday. 

But a presidential proclamation declaring holidays for 2024 -- dated October 11 and released on Friday -- makes no mention of the anniversary at all.

Rights group Karapatan said its removal showed the Marcos administration's contempt for "meaningful social actions that pursue justice, truth and accountability".

"It is on the road to blatantly distorting history by diminishing if not completely erasing any indication that the Filipino people overthrew the Marcos dictatorship and spurned its harmful impacts on the nation," Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

Project Gunita, which is digitizing books, films and articles documenting Marcos Sr.'s rule, said it was another "state-sponsored attempt to whitewash the history of the brutal dictatorship".

The latest list of holidays does include August 21, which commemorates the assassination of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, who along with his wife, the late former president Corazon Aquino, was revered for leading the struggle to restore democracy in the archipelago.