‘SERVE THE PEOPLE’: Groups, students hold protest on 37th EDSA anniversary

By John Noel E. Herrera

Cause-oriented groups, human rights advocates, and students from different universities in Iloilo staged a protest in front of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol on Friday, Feb 24, 2025, to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.

This year’s commemoration of the EDSA People Power Revolution, which saw the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, was also the first under the presidency of his namesake and son Ferdinand Jr.

The demonstrators emphasized that the 37th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution should not just be celebrated, as the public must also embody the lessons of the past to protect themselves and the country’s freedom, and avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Panay Secretary General Elmer Forro said that this year’s commemoration is significant, as what was experienced during the Martial Law is also being observed these days.

“Sa matuod lang, ang kahimtangan pang-ekonomiya sang 1986 kag sa subong, parehas. Malala ang krisis. Makita naton malala ang krisis, malala ang kahimtangan sang pumuluyo, ang gobyerno daw wala pakialam. Amu na ang masakit kay sila dapat ang dalangpan naton sang mga problema naton, pero sa subong makita naton nga nagalagaw pa,” Forro said in an interview.

“Ang pag-unite sang mga pumuluyo batok sa diktador kag napamatud-an mismo sa bug-os nga kalibutan nga wala sing ano man ka pintas nga diktador ukon kawatan ang makabugong kung maghugpong ang mga pumuluyo naton,” he added.

The group also criticized the city government’s market redevelopment project, citing that the partnership with a mall giant could affect the work of vendors and might lead to the privatization of supposed to be public markets.

“Ang mga vendors naton nga nagahana pa nga i-privitize pa ang ila merkado, buot silingon madula-an sila sang pangabuhi-an, so makita naton nga malala ang krisis,” Forro stressed.

Some activists, on the other hand, held placards with messages like “Never Again, Never Forget”, and “Reject and Resist” to remind the public of the crimes that happened during Martial Law that resulted in the EDSA uprising, which, according to them, might happen again under the current administration.

The protest also included calls for proper actions and programs to boost the economy of the country, aid to farmers, wage hikes, better governance, calls to stop red-tagging against progressive groups, resuming the peace talks, as well as to stop historical distortion and other economic and social issues.

Forro noted that the public, especially laborers, are currently struggling with the high prices of commodities because of the inflation rate, and the unreturned alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family, can mitigate the current inflation, which is at 8.7 percent in January 2023 according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Partido Manggagawa Iloilo coordinator and United Labor representative Mario Andon previously said that laborers’ wages went up after the EDSA Revolution, “but it was not given by (President Corazon Aquino), but through general strikes launched in 1987, 1988, and 1989.”

“We, laborers, believe that we need to join forces to be able to get what we have been fighting for since the time of earlier labor leaders,” he added.

STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION

“Serve the people.”

This was the statement that students of the University of the Philippines (UP)-Visayas, West Visayas State University (WVSU), and Central Philippine University (CPU) emphasized during the protest, where they called for better leadership from the government.

The students also called for higher education budget, the stop of campus militarization, mandatory ROTC, and historical revisionism.

UP-Visayas Anakbayan chairperson John Vincent Quiobe said that the public should be made aware of the facts, as historical revisionism intends to erase the mistakes of the Marcos family in the past.

“Itong mga pelikula ay parte ito ng mas malawak na disimpormasyon na nangyayari sa Facebook, Twitter, pag-hire ng trolls. Ito ay paraan upang ma-erase ang mga nagawang kasalanan ng Marcos sa sambayanan,” he said.

Quiobe added that the participation of students in commemorating the EDSA Revolution is important as it shows how critical the youth are about the issues that the country is facing today.

“Mababa pa rin ang sweldo, may krisis pa rin sa pagkain, transportasyon, at patuloy pa rin namumusabos ang mga Pilipino. Pinapakita rin natin ang diwa ng pakikibaka na nagpatalsik sa diktadurang Marcos, dahil alam natin na ang mga kabataan, iskolar ng bayan ang isa sa mga nanguna na nag-martsa sa EDSA kaya importante na nandito kami ngayon,” he stressed.

Prior to the start of the protest, there were reports saying that authorities allegedly tried to stop the students from joining the protest, as they had no permit to march from UP Visayas going to the Capitol.

“Prepared na kami na mag-martsa from UP Visayas, ngunit hindi pinayagan ng PNP dahil walang permit ang pag-martsa. We tried to negotiate na maglakad na lang kami mula UP hanggang Capitol na walang dalang placards, ngunit sabi ng PNP ay hindi pa rin pwede kahit sa pedestrian lane,” Quiobe explained.

“Ginawa namin, ay nag-contact kami sa admin (UP-Visayas administration) at pinadalhan kami ng bus kaya kami nandito ngayon,” he added, as his fellow students started to hold out placards, and shouted “ang tao, ang bayan, ngayon ay lumalaban.”