The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) joins the country in commemorating the 34th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution. This episode in our history was a shining moment for the Filipino people. It showed the world that peaceful defiance is possible against a tyrannical government.

More than three decades since the peaceful revolution, our continuing duty is to remember. It is in remembering that we protect our country against the many forms of human rights violations arising from authoritarian tendencies. We must learn from our history—knowing that our past informs our present and molds our future.

CHR is an institution established as a response to grave human rights abuses experienced by the Filipino people during the Martial Law rule. Mindful of this context, our continuing call is to resist any forms of abuse of power that have direct impacts on how we enjoy our freedoms.

As we see signs of shrinking of civic space and historical revisionism, we must push back. Let us resist efforts that seek to redefine human rights as only reserved to a few. Human rights is for all. This comes with the reminder that the government exists to protect and uphold the rights of its people—regardless of their race, colour, gender, religion, or affiliation.

It is time for us to move past what individual heroes said and did, and do our part in demanding justice for every death, violence, and affront to human dignity within the bounds of law.

This year, 2020, we also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the First Quarter Storm—a series of protests and demonstrations largely organised by students in the 1970s against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Similar to the courage of the youth in the past, we see the idealism and vigor of the young Filipinos today in speaking truth to power and in standing up against various forms of oppression and abuses.

Through our individual and collective efforts, may our renewed vigor allow us to always defend democracy as we aspire for a just and humane society.

For in the end, it is in the climate of democracy, despite its imperfections, that our rights and freedoms are best nurtured, allowing us to achieve our best potential and live a life of meaning and dignity. And, as we strive for a better life, let us be equally reminded of our duty to fight for the liberties of our fellow Filipinos, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised, so they too may enjoy the fruits of freedom. ###