OVP posts, takes down Duterte’s ‘Edsa’ message

A statement from Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on the 38th anniversary of the first Edsa People Power Revolution was taken down from her official Facebook page hours after it was posted on Sunday.

As of Monday afternoon, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has yet to respond to queries from reporters for an explanation on why Duterte’s message could no longer be found online.

Shortly after 9 p.m. on Sunday, her official Facebook page “Inday Sara Duterte” posted her statement commemorating the bloodless revolution that toppled the Marcos regime in 1986.

It was supposed to be her first message on the occasion since she was elected Vice President.

READ: DepEd calls for school activities about ‘Edsa’

The post, however, disappeared just before Sunday midnight but not before it was shared by some Facebook pages supportive of Duterte. These included “Inday Sara,” “SARA Duterte for President Movement” and “Inday Sara Nation.” As of press time, the Vice President’s message can be found only on the “SARA Duterte for President Movement” Facebook page.

In her message, Duterte said the celebration of the 1986 People Power was meant to commemorate the “brave souls who stood united on the streets of Edsa, fighting for democracy and freedom.”

“As we celebrate this momentous occasion, let us remember the lessons of Edsa—the power of unity, the strength of the Filipino spirit and the importance of standing up for what is right,” she said.

“Happy Edsa anniversary to all Filipinos, may we continue to uphold the spirit of Edsa in all that we do,” the Vice President added.

‘No suppression’

Also on Monday, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. defended his men from angry militant groups, saying they were just doing their job and had no intention of suppressing anyone’s rights.

Activist groups from Cavite and Laguna who were supposed to participate in activities commemorating the Edsa revolt in Metro Manila earlier claimed their rented jeepneys were held by police officers at checkpoints for over five hours.

According to the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), the checkpoints were intended “to harass activists, conduct illegal surveillance and discourage people from joining the scheduled protests.”

Acorda explained that some of the jeepneys were held for being “out of line” or traveling beyond their authorized routes.

“We don’t intend to suppress any rights … I think it is our mandate to implement such provisions of the law,” he said, pointing out that implementing traffic laws was part of the PNP’s regular law enforcement operations.

Bayan-Timog Katalugan said that 18 jeepneys with 350 delegates failed to join the protests as a result. “This is a clear systematic violation of our right to organize and express,” it said in a Facebook post.

Acorda said the overall Edsa celebration was peaceful and led to no unforeseen incidents.

“In Manila, we deployed accordingly, and the conduct of rallies were generally peaceful and yielded no untoward incidents; even the flow of traffic was not affected,” he said. —WITH A REPORT FROM FRANCES MANGOSING INQ