KARAPATAN Statement
February 25, 2026 10:45 AM
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Uprising this 25th of February 2026, the Filipino people mark the ouster of the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, infamous both for fascist tyranny and for being a kleptocracy. The Marcos Sr. regime notoriously earned a Guinness World Record for “the greatest robbery of a government” for stealing up to US$10 billion in public funds between 1965 and 1986.
Forty years later, Marcos scion Ferdinand Jr. is making sordid headways of his own. Under his rule, there have been 135 victims of extrajudicial killing as well as 85 others who survived attempts on their lives; 17 victims of enforced disappearance; 45 victims of torture; 826 illegal arrests; 908 illegal searches and seizures; and 10,825,864 victims of threats, harassment and intimidation, most of them red- and terror-tagged.
When it comes to thievery, Marcos Jr. is likewise mirroring his bureaucrat capitalist father in the immenseness of the monies stolen. The most recent revelations involve the ₱8-billion kickbacks sourced from massive budget insertions that were reportedly used to fund the candidacies of Marcosian favorites. Marcos Jr.’s leading role in pushing for up to ₱100 billion in budget insertions in the 2025 budget has likewise been exposed. Marcos Jr’s ₱4.5-billion CIF, more than seven times that of Sara Duterte’s CIF and even four times larger than that of his lead intelligence agency, is likewise a hefty source of monies for the Marcoses.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is clearly front and center in today’s commemoration of his dictator-father’s ouster because he is now the embodiment of everything the Filipino people abhorred and overthrew that fateful day of February 25, 1986. He is fascist tyranny and bureaucratic corruption personified.
He has attempted to downgrade the significance of the EDSA People Power Uprising in the nation’s history by no longer classifying it as a holiday. This time, he is prohibiting commemorative rallies along EDSA by invoking a repressive martial law-era ban on rallies without permits.
He relies on the so-called opposition to parry the blows as these opportunists focus their attacks only on the Dutertes and lower-ranking bureaucrats and personalities, and turn a blind eye to the evidence linking Marcos Jr. to systematic and large-scale bureaucratic corruption. Worse, these opportunists obliterate the spirit of EDSA by preventing the Filipino people from thinking out of the box on how to replace rotten leaders. In sum, they end up perpetuating the likes of Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte in power.
But these are acts of desperation.
The spirit of defiance and collective action that was EDSA lives on as the Filipino people confront authoritarianism and corruption unbroken from the time of Marcos Sr. to his son Marcos Jr.
This year’s commemoration of the EDSA People Power Uprising also marks a significant moment in the Filipino people’s continuing struggle for justice and accountability as Marcos Jr.’s fellow tyrant and predecessor Rodrigo Duterte faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings perpetrated under his drug war. It is the second case filed by Filipino victims of human rights violations in a foreign court. In April 1986, victims of Marcos Sr.’s martial law filed a civil suit seeking damages in a Hawaii court and won their case in a landmark ruling nine years later. Like the Hawaii plaintiffs, victims of Duterte’s drug war are confident that the charges of murder and attempted murder levelled against Duterte at the ICC will be confirmed and his case will proceed to trial.
TODAY, FORTY YEARS ON, the people declare “Never Again” to tyranny and corruption whether it is a Marcos or a Duterte in Malacañang.
Forty years on, the people gather in their numbers and march to defy the trampling of their rights.
Forty years on, the people proclaim their sovereign will to choose a government that truly represents their interests.