Palace on 'simple, quiet' Edsa anniversary: 'It's time to move forward'

MALACAÑANG said Thursday that it would do away with the traditional commemoration of the Edsa People Power Revolution, noting that this year’s rites would just be “very simple and very quiet.”

In a press conference, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that there is a need for Filipino people not to “get stuck in the past” and have to “reflect on what can happen in the future.”

Abella said the Palace will just hold a mass for the 31st anniversary of the Edsa uprising.

“[Edsa anniversary] is going to be very simple, very quiet. And the theme will be about the reflection on nation building,” the presidential spokesperson said.

Former President Fidel Ramos, a former military chief who played a crucial role in the 1986 revolution that ended the dictatorship of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, said the Edsa People Power anniversary might be held inside Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

The Edsa celebration is traditionally held at the People Power Monument on Edsa but Ramos said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea had told him that it will be celebrated in a smaller venue to "avoid traffic congestion."

Abella, however, gave different response when asked why the Duterte administration picked Camp Aguinaldo as this year’s venue.

“It’s time to move on from just celebrating the past, remembering the past, and to move on to the whole aspect of nation building, to give it a more positive outlook and to give a more positive understanding. We think holistically. The whole nation is evolving, we can’t get stuck in the past,” Abella said.

Abella also cannot confirm if the President would show up at the commemoration rites. (SunStar Philippines)