MANILA: Philippine protesters held a noisy rally Saturday (Feb 25) for the 37th anniversary of the “People Power” revolution, which ousted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s dictator father and sent the family into exile.
It was the first commemoration of the uprising since Marcos Jr took office in June 2022. He has praised his father’s 20-year regime, which critics describe as a dark period of human rights abuses and corruption that left the country impoverished.
As leftist rock music blared over a loudspeaker, hundreds of protesters, including survivors of the elder Marcos’s martial law crackdown that led to the killing, torture and imprisonment of thousands of political foes and critics, marched on the “People Power” monument in Manila in memory of the brutal era.
Some chanted “Marcos, Duterte all the same, fascist dictators”, in reference to former president Rodrigo Duterte and his successor Marcos Jr, as about 200 police with shields stood by.
Veteran rights activist Sister Mary John Mananzan urged protesters to “remain vigilant” following the return of the Marcoses to power.
Nearly four decades on from the toppling of Marcos Sr, Julio Montinola, 53, told AFP the challenge was to keep the “message and spirit” of the uprising alive.
“Unfortunately, it did not resonate with the next generation,” said Montinola. “The bottom line is he (Marcos Jr) was elected by the people.”
Thirteen-year-old Kyle Navera said he had heard “bad things happened” to people who opposed Marcos Sr.
“It looks like he (Marcos Jr) is starting (to become like his dad). I hope he does not go down that path,” Navera said, referring to the ongoing deadly drug war started by Marcos Jr’s predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.
Marcos Jr sent a large wreath of white flowers to the monument, which is near the city’s main thoroughfare where the bloodless uprising had been held.
