Philippine protesters celebrate ‘People Power’ ousting of former president Marcos Snr
- Rally is first commemoration of the uprising since current leader Ferdinand Marcos Jnr took office in June 2022
- Activist says challenge is to keep the ‘message and spirit’ of the 1986 uprising alive
It was the first commemoration of the uprising since Marcos Jnr took office in June 2022. He has praised his father’s 20-year regime, which critics describe as a dark period of human rights abuses and corruption that left the country impoverished.
As leftist rock music blared over a loudspeaker, hundreds of protesters, including survivors of the elder Marcos’s martial law crackdown that led to the killing, torture and imprisonment of thousands of political foes and critics, marched on the “People Power” monument in Manila in memory of the brutal era.
Some chanted “Marcos, Duterte all the same, fascist dictators”, in reference to former president Rodrigo Duterte and his successor Marcos Jnr, as about 200 police with shields stood by.
Veteran rights activist Sister Mary John Mananzan urged protesters to “remain vigilant” following the return of the Marcoses to power.
Nearly four decades on from the toppling of Marcos Snr, Julio Montinola, 53, said the challenge was to keep the “message and spirit” of the uprising alive.
“Unfortunately, it did not resonate with the next generation,” Montinola said. “The bottom line is he (Marcos Jnr) was elected by the people.”
Thirteen-year-old Kyle Navera said he had heard “bad things happened” to people who opposed Marcos Snr.
