25/02/2026
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๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐, ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ.
Forty years ago, the Filipino people flooded the streets in defiance of tyranny and toppled the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos through the historic People Power uprising of February 1986. The EDSA Revolution was not merely a spontaneous gatheringโit was the culmination of fourteen years of authoritarian rule marked by widespread human rights violations, media suppression, crony capitalism, and the erosion of democratic institutions.
Under Martial Law (1972โ1981), thousands were arrested, detained, tortured, or killed. Official records from the Human Rights Victimsโ Claims Board recognize more than 11,000 victims of human rights abuses during the Marcos dictatorship. These figures affirm that EDSA was born not from comfort, but from resistance and sacrifice.
The dictatorship fell not because it conceded power willingly, but because the Filipino peopleโworkers, peasants, students, religious groups, and professionalsโcollectively asserted their democratic will. As scholars note, the revolution demonstrated the capacity of civil resistance to dismantle entrenched authoritarian regimes.
Yet forty years later, the struggle over memory and meaning continues. Studies have documented the persistence of historical revisionism and the rehabilitation of authoritarian narratives in public discourse and digital platforms. Efforts to distort the record of Martial Law undermine democratic accountability and weaken civic vigilance. To remember EDSA, therefore, is to resist the erasure of truth.
UPV Diskurso affirms that commemoration must be political, not ceremonial. Democracy is not self-sustaining; it requires active defense. As Alfred McCoy (2009) argues, authoritarianism leaves institutional and cultural legacies that endure beyond regime change. The structures of inequality, patronage politics, and elite dominance that predated 1986 persist today, challenging the depth and substance of Philippine democracy.
The youth played a decisive role in 1986, and the youth remain central in defending democratic space. Universities must stand as sites of critical inquiry, historical clarity, and principled dissent. Silence in the face of distortion is complicity. Neutrality in the face of injustice is surrender.
EDSA at 40 is not a commemorationโit is a call to confront power.
The task before us is clear: defend historical truth, protect civil liberties, strengthen democratic institutions, and continue the unfinished struggle for social justice. The spirit of People Power lives only insofar.
