‘Power of We’ protests return of authoritarianism, celebrates Edsa

“People rising from inertia.”

This is how the broad coalition of almost 50 civil society organizations describes its planned gathering on February 25 to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, with former President Benigno Aquino III invited to join as the son of the country’s democracy icons.

“Whether 5,000 or 50,000 attend, the important thing is that the people are getting up from their inertia and even paralysis arising from near dictatorial events of the past few months, finding their voice, and consolidating their voices in one unified movement,” said Jozy Acosta-Nisperos of the online group The Silent Majority (TSM).

TSM and other organizations collectively call themselves The February 25 Coalition, which traces its beginnings  from the protests against the stealthy burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in November last year.

The coalition has dubbed the EDSA gathering as the “Power of We.”

Nisperos told the Inquirer over the weekend that it was a reminder that “power emanates… from everyone coming together as one united ‘we.’”

The partylist group Akbayan is another organizer. One of its leaders, Representative Tom Villarin,  said calling the EDSA commemoration as the “Power of We” is a reminder that the bloodless revolution remains relevant to this day, “especially that we have a government that has authoritarian tendencies and our democratic rights and freedoms are being challenged.”

Villarin said “The Power of We” is “a call to our people that 31 years ago we were together to oppose authoritarianism… (We say) that the resort to violence, the resort to martial law and the resort to demolishing the opposition should never be allowed again.”

Villarin called on Aquino to join the people at EDSA on Feb. 25. Aquino has been invited to the event, Villarin said.

“As a citizen, he has all the right to be at EDSA. As an Aquino, he has a share of EDSA,” Villarin said in an interview. “As a Filipino he should (make) his presence felt … to remind us that somewhere in our history, we struggled against a dictator. His father was a martyr, his mother is considered an icon of democracy. They should be emulated by the young generation.”

Villarin added that Aquino’s role in “pushing forward our ideals of democracy and freedom is not yet over.”

The February 25 Coalition emphasizes that “The Power of We” is separate from the activities of the EDSA People Power Commission (EPPC).

It is the first time that the groups have publicly distanced themselves from the EPPC. The coalition was organized to implement the annual commemoration of EDSA, which ushered the return of democracy and freedom after a 20-year authoritarian rule.

President Rodrigo Duterte has shown his alliance with the Marcos family. It was the President who paved the way for the dictator’s burial at the heroes’ cemetery and he openly endorses Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as his successor.

Malacañang said that the EDSA commemoration this year would emphasize on moving on from the past and focus on the “whole aspect of nation building.”

READ: Palace on ‘simple, quiet’ Edsa celebration: Time to move on

Villarin said the Duterte administration might be trying to “mute” the People Power Revolution, “and make it a passing footnote in terms of our celebrations of national holidays.”

The lawmaker emphasized that EDSA is a “historic event” and that people “should be reminded time and time again that we are still the same Filipinos that fought the dictator 30 years ago.” RAM/rga

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