‘Different method’ would be used if goal was to erase ‘Edsa’

A PAGE FROM MARTIAL LAW HISTORY The dictatorship was practically on its last legs when the usual suspects in the Marcos opposition led yet another protest march on Oct. 7, 1984. In a little over a year, People Power on Edsa would stun the world. From right: Etta Rosales, Lily de las Alas-Padilla, Cory Aquino, Wigberto Tañada, Lorenzo Tañada, Ramon Pedrosa, Ambrosio Padilla. They marched from Santo Domingo Church on Quezon Blvd Extension in Quezon City to Welcome Rotonda, on the boundary with Manila, where a reception party of riot cops dispersed them. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

President Marcos’ decision not to declare Feb. 25 as a nonworking day was not an attempt to blot out the memory of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, since the public remained free to join commemorative activities, like the ones held Tuesday mainly by some schools and religious and civic groups.

This was how Malacañang, through a newly appointed media officer, defended the reclassification of the occasion as a “special working day.”

Critics had assailed the break from tradition as a subtle move by Mr. Marcos to revise history and tone down the day’s significance since it marked the end of his father’s dictatorship and his family’s fall from power almost four decades ago.

“First of all, think about it: Did the President stop any activity related to the commemoration of the Edsa People Power Revolution?” Undersecretary Claire Castro of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

“Since he became President (in 2022), we did not hear of any events or activities to commemorate that event that were halted,” Castro said.

“If there is the intention to erase the memories of the Edsa People Power Revolution, then there would be a different method to be employed. As a matter of fact, we declared it as special working day, but it is considered just a regular working day. But what’s the purpose of a special working day? It’s to encourage people to join any event if they want to commemorate the affair,” Castro said.

“We should also take note: how is history erased? History is history. So the President cannot do it on his own to erase this from our history,” said Castro, a lawyer and broadcast media personality and vlogger before joining the Palace media office. She and the new PCO chief, former broadcast journalist Jay Ruiz, took their oath of office on Monday.

In a list issued by Malacañang in October 2024 identifying regular holidays and special days this year, there was no explanation why Feb. 25—a Tuesday—was made a special working holiday.

In 2024, the 38th anniversary of the revolt was also not listed as a holiday by the Office of the President since it fell on a Sunday.

In 2023, when it fell on a Saturday, the Marcos administration kept it a nonworking day but moved the commemoration to the 24th, the preceding Friday, to create a long weekend and promote the so-called holiday economics.

Castro said that even without a special nonworking day being declared, Filipinos can join activities and events that commemorate the revolution. She cited as an example the decision of some universities and lower-level schools to suspend work and classes on Tuesday.

“They are given the freedom to do that. That’s why we cannot say that the President is not hindering the plan of any organization or university to hold such activities. If they don’t want to hold classes, it’s up to them. They are free to do that,” Castro said.