When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Proclamation No. 368 on October 11, 2023, enumerating the next year’s official national holidays, non-working days, and special non-working days, the EDSA People Power Anniversary, which the nation celebrates on February, is no longer a holiday for 2024.
Interestingly, February 25, 1986 is the day the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, the father and namesake of the sitting president, was kicked out of Malacañang by the bloodless People Power revolution, ending a 21-year rule that was defined by plunder and human rights abuses, among other trademarks of a dictatorship. The Marcos family went into exile in Hawaii, USA, which is an experience the younger Marcos has described as among the darkest days of their lives.
A decades-long effort to rehabilitate the Marcos family name ultimately led to the ascent of Marcos Jr. to the presidency in 2022, underscoring the uncanny ability of the Filipino people to forgive and forget.
For 2024, Malacañang’s reason for the removal of the People Power Revolution anniversary from the list of holidays is there would be “minimal socio-economic impact in declaring this day a special non-working holiday since it coincides with the rest day for most workers and laborers,” which somehow doesn’t add up in the light of this administration’s tendency to conveniently move around other holidays for the reason of ‘holiday economics.’
This year, there will be no holiday for February 25, and what is sad is that for most of the forgiving and forgetful Filipino people, the only reason they are complaining is that there will be one less long weekend to enjoy.
However, for those who still remember and value the lessons that are to be gleaned from commemorating a moment in history such as the EDSA People Power Revolution, it ceasing to be a holiday for now should be no reason to totally forget about it. While some groups will be organizing commemorative events, there is also the choice for those who belong to the older generation, those that felt the tension and elation during those fateful days in February, 1986, to pass on their memories and lessons to the younger generation as a way of personally commemorating the events and the backstory of what happened on that day 38 years ago.
As the saying goes, “Those who do not remember history are bound to repeat it.” Is that what we want for our country?*
