EDSA revival

A year shy of 40 years, the EDSA people power revolt seems to be enjoying a renaissance.

The revolt-related protests are no longer merely for or against any particular person or clan – no more Aquino versus Marcos.

Rather, the mass actions are expressions of discontent with governance, disgust over politics and the state of the nation, and yearning for reforms.

Under the watch of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the images of Ninoy and Cory Aquino have been expunged from the 500-peso bill, and EDSA day is no longer a non-working national holiday. Give Bongbong Marcos credit at least for honesty in his sentiments about the revolt that toppled his family from power.

But others refuse to erase the 1986 revolt from the national memory. If BBM won’t declare EDSA day a non-working holiday, Catholic schools along with the University of the Philippines and several other learning institutions are going on holiday this Feb. 25, either suspending classes or shifting to alternative learning modes.

The participating institutions are encouraging their students and faculty to take time during the one-day break to learn about the people power revolt, the events that led to it and its impact on freedom movements elsewhere in the world.

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After so many years of deepening indifference to EDSA 1, what is triggering this renewed interest in mass protests?

More than plain nostalgia, surely recent ugly developments are among the reasons. There’s this frustrating sense that after 39 years, the more things change, the more they stay the same – and in our case, things are even getting worse.

Congressional hearings affirmed the worst stories about the Duterte administration – from the corruption scandals at the height of the COVID crisis to the killing spree in the crackdown on illegal drugs.

Other congressional probes on another Duterte also uncovered the misuse of public funds in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education – findings that would eventually lead to the unprecedented impeachment of Sara Duterte.

But these scandals were soon overtaken by the equally unprecedented bastardization of the 2025 national budget by both chambers of Congress for their members’ election campaigns and other personal purposes.

There’s also frustration over the poverty and undereducation that have rendered millions of Filipinos unable to feel outrage over the institutionalized pillage of people’s money and the retch-worthy dynasty building. There’s despair over survey results consistently showing greedy crooks, incompetent buffoons and snake oil salesmen leading in the Senate race.

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Over the years, the commemoration of the historic 1986 revolt progressively grew weaker. It is said that we Filipinos have short memories. Also, the lack of follow-through on the revolt by way of institutional reforms led to public frustration and disaffection with the EDSA forces.

Filipinos staged a revolution, and then went home, waiting for the pieces of progress to fall into place by themselves. Naturally, they did not.

By the time Filipinos faced another scandal-plagued administration, it was led by another woman installed through EDSA Dos. Does anyone even remember people power 2, which sent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to Malacañang, and the bizarre people power 3 that hoped to restore Joseph Estrada to the presidency?

People power installed GMA as president. People power fatigue saved her from a series of military mutinies and calls for her resignation.

In the years that followed, the systemic rot in our society widened. By the end of the second Aquino administration, Filipinos were ready for something – anything – new. The yellow forces of EDSA were repudiated in 2016, with voters giving the uncouth, folksy candidate who promised to literally exterminate all narcos a landslide win.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s stunning victory in 2022 in tandem with the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte was seen as the full repudiation of the 1986 revolt.

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Now, midway through Marcos 2.0, the spirit of people power is being revived. Even the Duterte forces are invoking it, with the former president warning that BBM might suffer the same fate as his father.

Pro-Duterte gatherings have been held at the EDSA Shrine. The Duterte Senate slate staged its inaugural rally at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan, where Corazon Aquino was sworn in as president of a revolutionary government while Marcos Senior was being sworn in by his loyalists at Malacañang, hours before he and his family were flown to exile in Hawaii by the Americans.

A grandson of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, Kiko Aquino Dee, said the current mass protests are expressions of public dissatisfaction with the way the government is being run.

When Rodrigo Duterte joked about killing 15 senators to make room for his slate, nearly all of whom are outside the Magic 12 in reputable surveys, among the common snide reactions was, “Bakit 15 lang?” Why only 15?

Duterte’s propensity to kill, kill, kill would have been more useful if he had targeted plunderers during his six years in power. But it could have nearly wiped out the political elite plus people close to him, including those who benefited from the multibillion-peso Pharmally scandal. Also, those exterminated would have members of their extended clans forming a long line, raring to take over the vacant posts ASAP.

This week’s mass protests reflect frustration over the brazen abuse of power that is turning the country into the regional basket case.

The question is, after collective venting, what will we do about it? Will everyone again go home after the rallies, waiting for the objects of their discontent to vanish by themselves?

Oh well, at least the protests show that people are aware enough and care enough to feel outraged by the state of the nation. Outrage is a significant step toward change.

Beyond the revival of the spirit of EDSA, the more difficult step is to harness the power of the people to implement lasting structural changes that have eluded the country since 1986.