Fil-Ams in New York Commemorate The 38th Anniversary of EDSA People Power
The Filipino community across New York City gathered in Woodside, Queens to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the EDSA People Power on February 24.
Organized by Malaya New York and Anakbayan Queens, the program began at Mabuhay Mural on 69th Street and Roosevelt Avenue where community organizers gave speeches.
Martial Law survivors and ESDA People Power participants shared testimonies of their time living in the Philippines during the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. administration and the historic EDSA protests in 1986.The program participants then marched to Woodside Memorial Park to hear more speeches from community organizers and witness cultural performances.
“As Filipino youth and students today, we continue to learn lessons and fight for the rights and welfare of the most oppressed in society. We must never falter no matter how difficult the current concrete conditions are. The EDSA Uprising is proof that as long as the youth fight alongside the united masses, dictators can be ousted,” said Nico Klaredad of Anakbayan Queens.
Last year, the current Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration omitted the EDSA People Power anniversary from its list of regular holidays and non-working days for the year 2024. The EDSA People Power Uprising ended his father Marcos Sr.’s dictatorship in the Philippines.
“The administration has pushed [Charter Change] with a sham ‘people’s initiative,'” said Dennis Madamba of Malaya Movement New York. “Let’s not forget that the last time we had a charter change under a Marcos administration it directly led to a decade of blatant human rights abuses, impunity, and direct authoritarian and fascist rule.”
