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.

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

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.

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.