NGOs mark 32nd People Power anniversary in Bacolod

A sign put up on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, by the Federation of Urban Poor (FED UP) in Negros Occidental at the monument of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. on Araneta Street in Bacolod City. (Photo courtesy of JOY JARABELLO)

BACOLOD CITY — More than 300 people joined two separate activities here to mark the 32nd anniversary of the People Power Revolt on Sunday.

At least 250 people gathered at the main entrance of the Provincial Capitol Lagoon in Bacolod City at 4:00 p.m on Sunday to light candles and then release yellow balloons.

“Democracy, freedom, and human rights are meaningless words to those who take for granted what our heroes died to gain for us,” said lawyer Andrea Lizares Si, Tindig Pilipinas-Negros Occidental convenor. “That is why we cannot afford to forget how freedom and democracy can be lost and how loss means a long nightmare of tyranny and oppression,”

In the morning, less than 100 members of Federation of Urban Poor (FED UP) in Negros Occidental also held prayer rally in front of the monument of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. on Araneta Street in Bacolod City.

Joy Jarabelo, FED UP chairman, said they wanted “the fire of freedom be lighted.”

One of their placards bore a quote from Aquino, saying: “When you condone tyranny my friends, you share in its corruption and lawlessness.”

Jarabelo said the EDSA People Power revolution was “worth celebrating as it celebrates the best of the Filipinos, to stand against our comfort and personal safety.”
“It made us work on bigger things like freedom,” she added. “Freedom is worth defending as it defines our existence.” /atm