Is Marcos trying to erase 'People Power'? Palace says ‘president can't erase history’

February 25, 2025 | 1:06pm

MANILA, Philippines  — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision not to halt classes and work for the People Power Anniversary is not an effort to erase history, the Palace said on Tuesday, February 25. 

The 1986 People Power Revolution led to the ouster of his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., marking the end of his two-decade rule.

For the second consecutive year, Marcos Jr. has not declared the anniversary a non-working holiday, drawing criticism from those who see it as an attempt to diminish its historical significance.

However, Malacañang maintains that there is no effort to erase history.

“Mayroon po bang pinahinto ang pangulo na anumang activity na patungkol sa commemoration ng EDSA [People Power Revolution]? Since the time na siya ay naging pangulo, wala tayong narinig na anumang pagpapahinto ng anumang events, any activities na maaaring mag commemorate ng nasabing event,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing. 

(Did the president try to stop any activities about the commemoration of the EDSA People Power Revolution? Since the time he became president, there has been no stopping of any events or activities that could commemorate the said event.) 

Castro even argued that history cannot be changed. 

“Paano natin mabubura ang history? History is history. Hindi po kakayanin ng presidente na mabura sa ating history,” she said. 

(How do we erase history? History is history. The president cannot erase history.) 

While Marcos Jr. did not declare the People Power anniversary as a non-working holiday, it was recognized as a special working day. 

Several schools across the country have suspended classes as an act of solidarity to commemorate the anniversary, and to protest attempts to whitewash the history of EDSA People Power. 

Castro believed that this alone showed that the Palace was not trying to revise history. 

“I think it means a lot to all the people. You are encouraged to go out, to do the activities, to commiserate the EDSA People Power,” Castro said. 

The EDSA People Power is hailed as one of the country’s most vital feats of democracy, ending the brutal Martial Law regime of Marcos Sr. 

The Martial Law era saw the killing of 3,200 people, the torturing of 34,000 and the imprisonment of 70,000 people, according to Amnesty International. 

Despite this, Marcos Jr. has insisted that his father and namesake is not a dictator, believing those critics to be wrong.