I was born in 1995, nearly a decade after the Edsa People Power Revolution ended the 20 years of the authoritarian rule of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. My entire life, I have read, studied and heard about how the first Edsa Revolution inspired many great peaceful revolutions around the world.
It is a little bit awkward that 37 years after the revolution, the late dictator’s namesake and only son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., is now the president of the country with an outstanding landslide victory in the 2022 elections.
Surprisingly, President Marcos has not retracted nor ordered the Edsa commemoration to be halted this year. He declared a special non-working holiday for the entire country so people may enjoy a long weekend.
This must be difficult for the President to swallow his pride and allow a national holiday celebrating what could have been the most traumatizing experience for his family, well deserved or not. And for that, I give him credit.
Yet the truth is, the only reason why I wanted to keep the Edsa holiday is because of the additional pay at work. I have no personal connection to Edsa as my family on both sides were sympathetic to the Marcoses during the regime.
It is only through other people’s stories that I feel the suffering of my fellow Filipinos during that authoritarian rule. It is the only way I know that a President should never be allowed to stay beyond his lawful term in office. It is the only way I know how important the media is in keeping democracy alive.
My generation, who never saw the Edsa Revolution but benefited from it, continues to grapple with different accounts of history, villainizing one character over the other, constantly wrestling with the truth.
Our nation, in forgiving the family that once ruled it for 20 authoritative years, continues to be amid cognitive dissonance: reconciling its pride in the People Power Revolution and its massive support to the current administration.
And so it begs the question: why does our generation need to commemorate the People Power? Have we lost the right to celebrate it since we elected another Marcos?
I have one answer. The People Power Revolution is not a celebration of the toppling down of the Marcoses and the rise of another equally self-serving family, but rather the rise of the Filipino people’s sovereign rights. The people reclaimed their sovereignty in that revolution and reminded the government of who is the boss.
The Edsa People Power anniversary is a yearly reminder for every single President, including President Marcos today, that the owner of the Philippines is the Filipinos.
While I do not see President Marcos overstaying his welcome, today will be a reminder for him to toe the line, lest he end up like his dad.
We should continue to celebrate the Edsa People Power Revolution because it is proof that Filipinos are the boss and when one day our elected officials fail us, we can reclaim our sovereign power vested upon us by God.