February 22 to 25, 2025 marks the 39th anniversary of the People Power Revolution, launched by the Filipino people in 1986. It served, not only to free our people from authoritarian rule, but also as a model for the international community on how to kick out a dictatorial head-of-state peacefully.
The People Power Revolution is in line with the democratic upheavals that have come in the wake of the French Revolution in the 1700s. Dynasties or royalties/monarchies, headed by kings, queens, emperors or czars, used to thrive on the canine devotion of their feudal lords who served as powerful dictatorial managers of the potentates’ vast landholdings and properties.
This feudal set-up systematized the exploitation of the common people who depended on their livelihood in the dynasties’ landholdings, or family enterprises. In other words, the masses were effectively beholden to the dynasties for their survival. It looks like our current government officials have restored this dynastic model of governance in our time.
Ferdinand E. Marcos, as dictator from 1971 to 1986, abolished Congress and made himself the sole legislator, in connivance with his defense chief Juan Ponce Enrile and with the complicity of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Constabulary (PC). He arrested and jailed key outspoken legislators like senators Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., Jose “Pepe” Diokno, Lorenzo Tañada, Soc Rodrigo, congressman Ramon Mitra and press people like Chino Roces and Max Soliven. He controlled the Supreme Court, whose members were compliant and enjoyed being friends with the dictator.
To cement his control, he closed down all media outlets — newspapers, radio and TV stations, and even student publications. And to make sure his “good deeds” are widely disseminated nationwide, he set up his own newspaper and managed all media outlets to churn out propaganda about his great plans and programs for a “New Society.” This effectively made dictator Marcos and his cronies the sole purveyor of news, or in today’s lingo, fake news, blinding the people from his crimes while in power.
In short, he suppressed the freedoms of speech, of the press, of assembly, even if only a gathering of five people. The movement of people was curtailed by setting curfew hours.
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He plundered the economy by placing his relatives, friends and cronies as official heads of key institutions and agencies, and even big businesses, which he illegally acquired subsequently. Thus, he amassed ill-gotten wealth worth billions of dollars, which until today is benefitting the Marcoses politically and economically.
Dictator Marcos rammed through, with a compliant assembly, a Marcos Constitution that further tightened his control over the government bureaucracy.
With his full control of the AFP and PC, from day one of his dictatorship, he illegally harassed, intimidated, raped, arrested, tortured, jailed, enforced disappearances, and killed fellow Filipinos suspected of disagreeing with his authoritarian rule. The estimated number of his victims, researched by the government office, Human Rights Violations Victims Memorial Commission (HRVVMC), is more than 200,000.
Note that it was under dictator Marcos’ watch that senator Ninoy Aquino was murdered on the tarmac of the then-Manila International Airport. Until today, the Marcoses have not shown any remorse, much less any amends, for what their patriarch-dictator has done to set the Philippines on a downward spiral of poverty for more than half of the estimated 116 million Filipinos.
Sadly, his son the current president, Bongbong Marcos, has failed so far to eschew the malpractices of his dictator-father, particularly the illegal tortures, arrests and killings of activists, especially in the provinces, including those in Mindanao.
His administration believes in applying the same “war on drugs” template of extra-judicial killings or EJKs, devised and implemented by former president Rodrigo Duterte and his partners, senators Bong Go and Bato de la Rosa.
President Bongbong Marcos knows that millions worth of drugs are still proliferating in the market. Until today, no known drug lords have been apprehended.
Most likely, he is aware that the former president has been tagged by credible resource persons of the Congress’ Quad Committee hearings, as the biggest “drug lord” in the South. But, so far, he has yet to order his Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to investigate the truth of the findings of the Quad Committee, that in fact, former president Duterte is probably guilty of “crimes against humanity,” along with some police generals, and several others closely identified with him. It is worth knowing the reason for his inaction.
Current national issues are media headlines. Increasingly, massive rallies are calling for “Impeach VP Sara Duterte Now,” “Marcos Singilin, Duterte Panagutin,” “Ayusin 2025 Budget,” “Resign mga Korap at Abusado sa gobyerno,” etc.
These street outcries are getting more frequent, and getting bigger, with the participation of church leaders, religious communities, military officers, sectoral organizations, and plain citizens.
Thus, it’s not off the mark to speculate that what the Filipino people are experiencing, or rather suffering, is now moving them towards another form of People Power, this time with the aid of social media.
It is only appropriate to establish this month, the 39th Anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution, and make every February of each year, a celebration to commemorate the spirit of patriotism and democratic resistance embedded in the 1986 People Power Revolution.
This is likewise an occasion to honor all who fought the Marcos dictatorship, so that the Filipino people will “Never Forget,” and say “Never Again” to any abuse and monopoly of power. – Rappler.com
Bonifacio Macaranas is a retired professor of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SOLAIR) and is currently chair of the People’s Choice Movement (PCM). PCM is a collaborative partner of the Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture.
