Activists hold protests on 40th anniversary of 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution

Filipino activists gathered at the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City on February 25, 2026 to hold a protest commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution.

The people's revolution happened from February 22 to 25, 1986 and overthrew the late President Ferdinand Marcos, father of incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila De Lima said she and other Liberal Party (LP) members filed House Bill No. 8028, or the proposed EDSA People Power Revolution Day Act, seeking to make February 25 a regular public non-working holiday.

De Lima said making February 25 a national holiday is an acknowledgement of the Filipinos' courage and heroism in fighting a dictatorship and restoring democracy.

According to the Martial Law Museum, "EDSA 1986 was a time when a powerless and abused people finally found the moral courage to stand up to the dictatorship."

Malacañang did not issue an official statement about the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution but acknowledged that it was an important part of Philippine history.

According to the Philippine News Agency, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing on Wednesday, that, “It’s part of the history, hindi ito mabubura. Hindi mabubura kung anong naganap noon."

"Ang katapangan ng mga Pilipino, ang pagtanggap sa pangyayari hindi po iyan mabubura sa history," she said, adding that February 25, 2026 has been declared a special working day in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the historic revolution."

The Palace earlier said Marcos Jr. is open to proposals to declare February 25 of every year a regular holiday. 

ROLE OF CARDINAL JAIME SIN

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines issued a Pastoral Letter on good citizenship for the 40th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.

The Pastoral Letter, read in all Catholic Churches on February 22, said, "In 1986, after enduring years of suffering, we shouted in unison: “Tama na! Sobra na! Palitan na!” From February 22 to 25, 1986, we saw how Filipinos bravely yet peacefully took their disgust and frustrations to streets.

"The long stretch of EDSA became a vast open-air cathedral of faith and peaceful defiance. Millions of Filipinos, from across the country, gathered under the protective mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Son, Jesus. Clutching and praying the rosary, offering masses, singing hymns -We, as a people, stood shoulder-to-shoulder, faced tanks and soldiers with nothing but unyielding faith in our hearts," the letter said.

The late Cardinal Jaime Sin, former Archbishop of Manila, has been called the voice that summoned the peaceful EDSA Revolution.

Below are screen grabs of the Pastoral Letter issued in 1986 that inspired people to gather for the EDSA People Power Revolution. The photos of the Pastoral Letter are posted on the official Facebook page of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News.

MARCOS SR.: FROM SENATE PRESIDENT TO PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT

Marcos Sr., a cum laude graduate of the UP College of Law, had served as a Senate President before becoming the President of the Philippines.

According to his bio on the Senate of the Philippines website, he is the only Senate President so far to have become the country's President.

Marcos Sr. was in power from 1965 until he was ousted in 1986.

He was first elected as Philippine president in 1965 and reelected in 1969. Before his term ended, he declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972 and he stayed in power until he was overthrown in 1986.

Marcos and his family went on exile in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he passed away on September 28, 1989. 

He left behind his wife Imelda and their three children: Maria Imelda Josefa Trinidad (Imee), currently a Philippine senator, Ferdinand Jr. (Bongbong), incumbent Philippine President, and Irene Victoria.

After the ouster of Marcos Sr., the country's first female Philippine President was installed — the late President Corazon Aquino, widow of Marcos Sr.'s political rival, the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. who was killed on August 21, 1983 at the Manila International Airport, now called Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Corazon was in power from February 25, 1986 to June 30, 1992.

-Veronica Pulumbarit/Paraluman News

Catholic nuns shout slogans during a protest commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which overthrew the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, at the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, February 25, 2026. REUTERS/Noel Celis