De La Salle Philippines (DLSP) announced its solidarity on February 14 for the upcoming 39th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution. The institution’s statement, titled ‘Pwersa ng Tunay na Pagkakaisa,’ aimed to honor the upcoming celebration of the People Power Revolution.
The network of 16 La Salle schools has declared suspension of classes and work on February 25, 2025. This is due to the fact that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has withdrawn the EDSA People Power anniversary under its previous special non-working holiday category in accordance with Proclamation No. 727 issued October of 2024. A supposed monumental day of honor and celebration has since been erased on the national calendar with its downgrade as Special Working Holiday.
DLSP condemned the current administration’s attempt to “diminish the significance of a pivotal moment in our nation’s history—one that toppled a dictatorship and restored civil liberties.” Hence, the suspension of classes and work among these schools are a statement of resistance toward the evident historical distortion of the current Marcos administration. During this period, DLSP aims to hold high the torch of commitment toward freedom and justice.
The People Power is commemorated annually in the Philippines to remember and honor those who have fought and gathered to eagerly resist the regime of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. on the monumental day of February 25, 1986. For almost a decade, Filipinos were subjected to military rule under Martial Law back in 1972, dubbed as a “dark chapter in Philippine history.”
In the statement, DLSP looked back on the core values of their institutions rooted from the teachings of their founder, “We heed the call of St. John Baptist de La Salle to become the change we wish to see. In the face of threats to our democracy, now is the time to rekindle the spirit of People Power.” The group of schools has reminded Lasallians to resist attempts on the erasure of the nation’s collective memory and hold accountable the leaders of the state.
Similarly, schools along the EDSA-Ortigas Area under the EDSOR Consortium “have agreed to celebrate this date as a special non-working holiday despite Malacañang’s exclusion of this historic event.”
Dominican-run University of Santo Tomas (UST) has also released a memo regarding the suspension of classes and work according to their secretary-general Father Louie Coronel.
These are evident efforts of various institutions and groups to ceaselessly commemorate the historic EDSA revolution despite the ironic return of the Marcoses in Malacañang back in 2022.
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