by PhilRights Staff
Thirty-five years ago, the Filipino people showed the world that freedom and democracy can be won through nonviolent means. In 1986, we proved that toppling a dictatorship need not require shedding blood and sacrificing lives. Confronted with the Marcos regime’s tyranny and violence, the people won back their rights through a concerted effort to insist upon them.
Today’s remembrance of the victory of the 1986 People Power Revolution is freighted with urgent concerns for our people’s current realities. Our history is one of repetition; patterns emerge and conditions compound, bringing us into a present where, once again, we have an authoritarian leader disdainful of human rights and whose core principle of governance is violence.
In five short years, the Philippines has found itself plunged back into a human rights crisis, with a crumbling economy, widespread impunity, weakened institutions, shrinking civic spaces, and unchecked State violence, all thanks to the Duterte administration’s willful disregard for human rights and the dignity of people.
For these reasons, today’s commemoration of People Power has to go beyond reminiscing about past glories. Instead, let today be a reminder that the rights and freedoms the people valiantly fought for in 1986 are once again endangered. Let today be a reminder that, just as in 1986, we the people can once again claim and defend our democracy and fight for human rights for all.
#StopTheKillingsPH
#EndTheAssaults
#AllHumanRightsForAll
