GMA to kick off EDSA rites in Davao City

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be in Davao City on Feb. 22 to kick off the nationwide celebration of EDSA ’86 People Power 1.

Arroyo will be at the Centennial Plaza in the afternoon with civil society groups to mark the start of the four-day peaceful revolution against then President Ferdinand Marcos.

People Power in 1986 astounded the world when it ousted the 15-year Marcos dictatorship with a single casualty.

The people uprising, called by Jaime Cardinal Sin initially to protect a breakaway military group, caused the exile of Marcos and the assumption of opposition leader Corazon Aquino, widow of assassinated Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, to the presidency.

Mrs. Aquino ran against the dictator in the snap presidential elections under the banner of the United Opposition. The elections, which Marcos claimed to have won, were tainted by vote-buying, terrorism and cheating during the canvassing of ballots, and were subsequently rejected by the people at EDSA.

There were also rallies and protests in key cities of the country then although the dramatic massing of a million people at EDSA, around the two military camps, Aguinaldo and Crame, became the electrifying symbol of Philippine People Power throughout the world.

The historic Davao Centennial Plaza was the site of rallies for People Power I and II. There, Mrs. Arroyo will be with groups of committed citizens who were also active in the "Resign Estrada" movement that led to People Power 2 and Estrada’s ouster.

In the morning of Feb. 22, Mrs. Arroyo will grace the Bishops-Ulama Forum at the Marco Polo Hotel. She is expected to deliver a major speech on the peace process which she immediately revived upon her assumption of the presidency.

EDSA People Power Commissioner (EPPC) Lito Lorenzana said Mrs. Arroyo will also be the guest of honor at a dinner with representatives of civil society, the business community, local governments and the bureaucracy at the Davao Convention Center.

EPPC convenors in the different provinces include Archbishop Fernando Capalla, DD, lawyer Jesus Ayala, Rey Magno Teves and Lorenzana; Ernesto Aboitiz, Tessie Fernandez and Marilou Chiongbian for Cebu; Lourdes Pimentel, Irwin Pimentel and Rachael Polistico for Cagayan de Oro; Cesar Villanueva for Bacolod; Mayette Paragas, Jullie Cabatu and Adelaida Lim Perez for Baguio; and Mayor Kate Gordon for Olongapo.