Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. drops People Power Revolution national holiday

Paul Godfrey
·2 min read
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Filipinos celebrate the anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution at the People Power Monument in Quezon City, Manila, February 25, 2017. File photo by Rolex Dela Pena/EPA
Filipinos celebrate the anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution at the People Power Monument in Quezon City, Manila, February 25, 2017. File photo by Rolex Dela Pena/EPA
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Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. dropped a national public holiday marking the 1986 People Power Revolution that ended the two-decade-long dictatorship of his late father, Ferdinand E. Marcos, from a government calendar.

The Feb. 25 holiday was left out of a government proclamation of the dates of 18 regular and "special non-working days" that will be officially observed in 2024, according to a statement published Friday by the state-owned Philippine News Agency.

The annual holiday which normally sees marches and rallies by political rights activists and survivors of 14 years of martial law under Marcos was excluded from the 2024 list because it falls on a Sunday, which is a non-working day in the country.

"The Office of the President maintains respect for the commemoration of the EDSA [Epifanio de los Santos Avenue] Revolution. However, it was not included in the list of special non-working days for the year 2024 because Feb. 25 falls on a Sunday," Marcos' office said in a statement.

"There is minimal socio-economic impact in declaring this day as a special non-working holiday since it coincides with the rest day for most workers and laborers."

The late Philippine President, Corazon Aquino, gives the Philippine revolution sign to a standing ovation at Memorial Hall at Harvard University after delivering an address on September 20, 1986. Matina Horner, President of Radcliffe College (R) looks on. File photo by George Riley/UPI

However, no explanation was provided as to why the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary holiday on Dec. 8 retains its designation as a special non-working day status and will be marked as normal, despite the fact that it too falls on a Sunday.

In the 16 months since his inauguration, Marcos Jr., already moved the revolution anniversary holiday in 2023 from Feb. 25 to Feb. 24, amid accusations of spending huge sums during his run for the presidency to rehabilitate his father's reputation and airbrush out human rights abuses and corruption that marked his time in office.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has dropped a long-standing national holiday marking the 1986 People Power Revolution that forced from power and into exile his late father, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. File Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has dropped a long-standing national holiday marking the 1986 People Power Revolution that forced from power and into exile his late father, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. File Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI

A national holiday marking the death of opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., is not affected and will be observed as normal. Aug. 21. Aquino's 1983 assassination set in motion events that led to the EDSA revolution and his widow, Corazon Aquino being propelled to the presidency.

Epifanio de los Santos Avenue refers to the main Manila artery along which hundreds of thousands of Filipinos marched in their peaceful effort to remove Marcos from power in February 1986.