People wore black and yellow t-shirts gathered around the Edsa Shrine near a mall while students carried backpacks and rally placards from their morning classes.

Men and women carried flags and banners and members of the clergy with the image of the Queen of Peace in their hands marched at Edsa northbound.

This was the scene on Tuesday afternoon as the country marked the 39th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution where then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr, his family and associates fled after 21 years in power.

It has been 39 years since the bloodless revolution that ousted former president Ferdinand Marcos from dictatorship, yet in a country where his son is the president and the anniversary that once was a holiday was declared as a special working day, students find ways to commemorate the EDSA Revolution.

For the first time, around 50 schools and universities around Metro Manila announced the cancellation of classes to commemorate the day. The police estimate of 6,000 attendees of the EDSA commemoration were mostly students.

A group of students from Ateneo de Manila sat on a circle, with someone carrying a megaphone giving an educational primer on the importance of commemorating Edsa.

Students shared their thoughts on corruption within the government, the rising prices of daily commodities.

Students chanted, “Down from the hills, into the streets,” an answer to Ateneo de Manila’s late announcement of academic ease to commemorate EDSA. College students walked out of their classes, marching towards the Katipunan jeepney terminal, and travelled to Ortigas to join people at the People Power Monument.

“This is what it means to be an Atenean, to be one with the marginalized and learn from them before trying to lead them,” Mara dela Cruz, convenor of One Big Fight for Human Rights and Democracy, a human rights alliance in Ateneo, shared.

On the other side of Manila, students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines also walked out of their classes after their university did not cancel classes. Multisectoral organizations of the university marched around campus before proceeding to the Edsa Shrine Monument.

“PUP’s student body did not agree with the University’s decision to continue holding classes, coming from our President, who used to be a member of the press. It seems ironic that he would be against the cancellation of classes. Due to the lack of approval, we conducted a walkout instead,” said Ellen, one of the PUP students who marched towards Edsa.

Various student groups called Marcos’ decision to declare February 25 as a special working holiday ‘a slap to the victims of the Marcos’ regime, an unacceptable decision coming from the family who caused harm during their regime.’ Yzabela Velez-White/DMS