26/02/2026
Statement of the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines – Los Baños Chapter on the 40th Anniversary of the People Power Uprising
Forty years ago, the Filipino people answered a historic call of conscience along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. In the face of fascist repression, deception, and systemic plunder under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, the people rose in collective action and brought down a regime of tyranny. In doing so, they affirmed a truth deeper than any decree: that sovereignty resides not in Malacañang, but in the organized strength of the people.
EDSA was not merely the fall of a ruler. It was the assertion of the people’s moral and political authority against a system of corruption, militarization, and elite domination. It showed that when institutions operate within unjust structures, the people themselves can act to reclaim their future.
Today, forty years later, the conditions that gave rise to EDSA persist. Under the regime of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., grave concerns remain regarding corruption, the continued concealment of ill-gotten wealth, and the bloating of confidential and intelligence funds that shield public expenditures from scrutiny while strengthening the coercive apparatus of the state. These realities deepen inequality and erode public trust, revealing that the struggle for genuine national democracy remains unfinished.
In this context, calls for accountability—including demands for resignation, impeachment, or removal from office—are not chaos. They are expressions of democratic responsibility. EDSA itself teaches that when public authority betrays the people’s trust, the people have the right to act in defense of justice.
We therefore reject attempts to discredit calls for accountability and the proposal for a National Transitional Council by portraying them as invitations to militaristic intervention. Such fearmongering distorts the issue. It tells the people to remain silent out of fear that military opportunists might intervene, shifting responsibility away from those who would unjustly seize power and placing it instead on citizens exercising their democratic rights. This logic contradicts the very spirit of EDSA, which affirmed that civilian authority must prevail over intimidation.
The call for a National Transitional Council arises from the urgent need to ensure credible investigations and genuine accountability for corruption, and to safeguard the integrity of future elections. It represents a civilian political initiative that remains within the people’s democratic capacity to shape national transition, operates within the framework of the present Constitution, and draws its legitimacy from the sovereign will of the people themselves. At a time when existing institutions glaringly reveal deep structural injustices and public trust has deeply eroded, such a mechanism can help open space for accountability, democratic participation, and meaningful reform. While it cannot by itself resolve the deeper injustices embedded in the present system, it constitutes a necessary step toward strengthening the people’s ability to exercise genuine political power.
In this spirit, we call upon all sectors to unite in affirming that the people themselves must resolve political questions. Our unity must consist not in fear but in the courage to demand that the Armed Forces of the Philippines refrain from any intervention in civilian political processes and uphold its Constitutional duty to the people by remaining firmly subordinate to civilian authority. The lesson of EDSA is clear: the future of the nation must be determined not by oppressive instruments of force, but by the sovereign will of the people.
As a progressive and ecumenical Christian student movement, we affirm that our faith calls us to stand with the oppressed and to participate in the struggle for justice and national liberation. The Gospel proclaims God’s preferential love for the poor and calls us to transform structures that deny human dignity. Faithfulness to Christ demands not passive acceptance of injustice, but active participation in the struggle for truth, freedom, and justice.
The legacy of EDSA lives wherever the people organize, resist injustice, and defend their dignity. On this anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to the unfinished task of national and social transformation. We commit ourselves to truth, accountability, and genuine democracy.
For faith demands justice.
For justice demands struggle.
And in this struggle, the people shall prevail.
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