Sen. Imee R. Marcos during the hybrid hearing of the Commission on Appointments (CA) Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — “The events of February 25, 1986 — 37 years ago — changed our minds, hearts, and lives in ways too many to mention,” Sen. Imee Marcos said on Saturday in a statement to make the 37th anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution that ousted her father, then-President Ferdinand Marcos.
“For beyond the lesson of people power, or even what others have called mere military adventurism, a power grab, or even the endless clash of elites, to me, the truth of EDSA is that we owe millions of Filipinos still living in squalor and insecurity, ignorance and hunger the promise of change,” the. senator said.
“Together, as one nation, let us go forth to transform this poor and unjust country into a Philippines that is, truly and finally, for ALL FILIPINOS,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, her brother, the current chief executive, offered his “hand of reconciliation to those with different political persuasions.”
He said that he was “one with the nation in remembering those times of tribulation.”
Before issuing her statement, Marcos posted a picture of herself in front of their father’s grave.
“Your servant has her palms together, praying at my father’s tomb. Although my family has never stopped asking for peace, healing, and progress, my prayer is asking for a reflection on history, the opportunity to share our story, and the presentation of the truth, which is called democracy,” she wrote in Filipino.
The 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution was a bloodless uprising by millions of Filipinos that resulted in then-President and the restoration of democracy.
The assassination of former Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983, sparked widespread demonstrations, eventually leading to the revolution that clamored for a change in government.