MANILA, Philippines – Interior Secretary Eduardo Año stressed that it was the Filipino people, through a peaceful movement, who overthrew the regime of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos, and not the communists with their armed struggle.
In his message for the 34th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution, Año also reminded communists and their supporters that a change in the country’s Constitution, and not through an armed struggle was how democracy was restored during that time in the nation’s history.
“It was the Filipino people, not the communists, who overthrew the Marcos regime. History tells us that the country did not need armed struggle. To effect change means having a new Constitution accepted and followed by the people,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Let us remember that dictatorship and human rights abuses wereññnded and democracy was restored through the 1987 Philippine Constitution sparked by the peaceful 1986 Edsa Revolution,” the former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff added.
Año also said that terrorism and bloodshed should not be used as a means to achieve reforms in society.
“Hindi terorismo, pagdanak ng dugo at pambibiktima sa kapwa Pilipino ang paraan upang magkaroon ng reporma sa lipunan, ” he said.
(It’s not through terrorism, bloodshed, and abuse of fellow Filipinos that we could attain reforms in society)
The communist movement with its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), grew its ranks during the martial law years of the then Marcos administration.
At present, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is pushing for localized peace talks with the NPA.
The localized peace talks with the communist rebels are being led by National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and is being supported by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which Año also heads.
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Meanwhile, Año said that while the spirit of the peaceful Edsa People Power Revolt lives on, it now takes the form of Charter change, which he said can help remedy the country’s present “social ills and viruses.”
“The spirit of EDSA lives on. The revolution continues. It may not be in the form of millions of people demonstrating on Edsa but through the proposed amendments to the fundamental law of the land to adapt with the current environment and serve as an antidote to contemporary social ills and viruses,” he added.