Duterte to skip Edsa People Power anniversary on Friday

February 22, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte has no plan of gracing the commemoration of the 31st Edsa People Power Revolution to be held Friday and not Saturday, and inside the military headquarters and not at the People Power Monument.

While the Duterte administration plans to have a quiet commemoration of the event, different groups vowed on Wednesday not to allow February 25 to pass by unnoticed.

In a schedule provided to the media, the guest of honor on Friday's activity to be held at the grandstand of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City will be Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, chairperson of the People Power Commission.

This is not the first time that a president did not grace the commemoration of the historic event that led to ouster of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and catapulted late Corazon Aquino to the presidency in 1986.

During the 2009 celebration, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not grace the occasion. Vice President Noli de Castro was the highest official who attended the flag raising ceremony only.

In a forum in Quezon City, at least four organizations said they would be going to the historic People Power Monument or to nearby Edsa Shrine, both along Epifanio delos Santos Avenuein Quezon City to remember what happened 31 years ago.

"No, we will not allow the day and the event to pass by unnoticed," said May V. Rodriguez of Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation.

She said they would make sure young people would know and remember what happened 31 years ago.”We will not keep quiet," she said.

Without naming names, Reli German of August Twenty One Movement lamented there were "attempts to trivialize" the People Power Revolution."We refuse to be irrelevant," he said.

Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra, in a press briefing on Tuesday, said P1 million has been allotted for the Edsa People Power commemoration, with the main event to take place on Friday inside the Armed Forces of the Philippines headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, not at the People Power Monument, traditional venue for the past 30 years.

Edsa People Power Commission vice chair Jose Ma. Concepcion III had said there was a consensus to hold the commemoration on Friday since there were groups which had planned different activities on Saturday.

Rachel Contreras of Millennials Against Dictatorship said they can’t say how many would be attending their activities at the People Power Monument on February 25 which will start in the afternoon until midnight. She urged youths to participate.

Aleta Tolentino of the People Power Volunteers for Reform, slammed those who were saying the People Power Revolution was just a feud between the Aquinos and the Marcoses.

"Edsa is not a family feud...it's one shining moment (for the Filipinos)," she said.

While there were groups who will gather at the People Power Monument, pro-Duterte supporters are set to hold a two-day prayer vigil from February 25 to 26.

According to Undersecretary Joel Egco of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, who sent a text message to reporters, they expect "at least one million" Duterte supporters to attend the event to be held at Luneta Park in Manila.

Asked on how they see the action of Duterte supporters of holding the vigil simultaneously with the commemoration of People Power, Rodriguez said it "could be a tactic" to divide the attention of the public.

Rodriguez added it would be up to the people where they want to go. "We will prove that the Edsa People Power is not yet passe," she said.

During the Edsa event, a 55-page book entitled "Martial Law Jokes atbp: Stories I Couldn't  Share Under Marcos' Dictatorship," will also be launched.

The book of Crispin Maslog is a compilation of jokes that were passed on by mouth and in whispered and private conversations during Martial Law years, considered as the darkest era for the Philippines.

He said this is the perfect time to share these jokes openly "to remind everyone that horrible era in Philippine history when a tyrant once ruled and plundered the county, and the people were speechless and reduced to sharing jokes in whispers." Celerina Monte/DMS