From EDSA to 2028: Electoral revolution!

On Wednesday, the country celebrated the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution. Despite being a working holiday, thousands of Filipinos across the nation took to the streets to celebrate the historic uprising.

At the People Power Monument along EDSA, the organizers of the third installment of the Trillion Peso March mounted an impressive all-day event attended by various sectors who came and went throughout the morning and afternoon activities. Similar events happened in Cebu, Bacolod, and other provinces. The event was organized by the Buhay ang People Power Campaign Network and Simbahan at Komunidad Laban sa Katiwalian (SIKLAB), with support from Caritas Philippines.

Among those present were Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David, Akbayan lawmakers Chel Diokno and Perci Cendaña, ML Representative Leila de Lima, and former government officials such as Winnie Monsod, Heidi Mendoza, Barry Gutierrez, and Edwin Lacierda. They were joined by students from major Catholic schools and universities, various dioceses, trade unions, artists, and communities.

Invoking the spirit and legacy of EDSA, the gathering reminded Filipinos that one of the uprising’s unfinished tasks is the abolition of political dynasties, now starkly symbolized by the rival camps of the Marcos and Duterte families.

Akbayan president Rafaela David urged people to launch an “EDSA-inspired electoral revolution” in 2028 as a response to the persistent domination of political dynasties, particularly the “power carousel” between the Marcoses and the Dutertes.

Tindig Pilipinas co-convenor Kiko Aquino Dee echoed this statement, urging the passage of a genuine anti-political dynasty law, stating that it is still one of EDSA’s many delayed promises. Dee asserted that “Marcos Jr. must be the last Marcos in Malacañang; while Vice-President Sara Duterte should never step into its halls.”

The Trillion Peso March organizers’ decision to link the fight against massive corruption with the call to abolish political dynasties was deliberate. Political dynasties, from the municipal level to the highest offices in government, are widely seen as contributors to many of the country’s social ills. Numerous dynastic clans have been implicated in corruption, including the flood control scandal. Many have monopolized our local and national economies, maintained private armed groups, and placed family interests above the national good. Some have even been exposed as “Tsinadors” by the public for their defeatist stance in favor of China on the West Philippine Sea.

At the national level, the warring camps of Marcos Jr. and the Dutertes are viewed by many as anathema to democratic accountability. The former is criticized for being slow and indecisive in addressing corruption, while the latter faces serious allegations, including crimes against humanity tied to thousands of extrajudicial killings, as well as plunder.

Forty years after EDSA, this is where the country stands. The son of the ousted dictator now sits as President, while the Dutertes risk returning to Malacañang in 2028.

What happened?

The decline of EDSA’s promise did not happen overnight. It unfolded gradually through the betrayal of public leaders who protected entrenched interests. Many of these leaders are members of, or allied with, political dynasties. Instead of dismantling the structures of patronage and inequality, they allowed them to persist and deepen. They eroded public faith in our institutions.

Just as damaging was the failure to push forward progressive economic reforms to redistribute wealth and create opportunities for a better life for all. The continued economic dominance of political dynasties and oligarchic interests has widened the gap between the rich and the poor, while widespread corruption has ransacked the nation’s coffers.

At the same time, the massive rise of disinformation, fake news, and historical revisionism, emboldened by the lack of institutional memory to remember the lessons of the past, neglected historical truth and distorted public memory.

With history blurred, accountability weakened, and the promise of economic prosperity largely unfulfilled, many of our people got impatient with the complexities of democracy and became susceptible to the lure of authoritarian nostalgia and shortcuts.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas described the situation as the result of decades of moral decline, political betrayal, and historical revisionism. Drawing parallelism from the biblical story of the wedding feast at Cana, he warned that “our wine is running out.” “Our wine ran out slowly; we did not notice the spilling,” he said.

Seasoned journalist Glenda Gloria said that the legacy of EDSA is “caught in a debilitating midlife crisis.” The description is painfully fitting.

A midlife crisis can lead to bitter and endless regrets. But it can also be a moment of renewed clarity and resolve. If EDSA, after forty years, feels like a moment of reckoning, it may also be an opportunity to recover its fundamental lessons and translate them into concrete political and social reforms.

We now have that chance in 2028.

But 2028 begins now.

This year must mark decisive steps away from dynastic rule. It must be the year when impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte lead to truth and accountability, and when the International Criminal Court (ICC) moves forward with full force in cases against former President Rodrigo Duterte and his co-accused. It must be the year when the big fish, those responsible for the flood control corruption scandal, are formally charged and sent to jail. It must also be the year when Tsinador politicians are fully isolated and held accountable.

This should also be the year a genuine anti-political dynasty law is finally passed. And this must also be the year when the democratic opposition finally identifies a unified standard-bearer for 2028, offering voters a viable alternative to the squabbling Marcos-Duterte dynastic duopoly.

We cannot afford another forty years of dynastic rule. The people power revolution calls not only for remembrance, but for completion.

Let us finish what we began in 1986. EDSA must prevail in 2028.