As the nation marks the 40th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged Filipinos to “remember, repent, and respond,” calling for a renewed fight against impunity and support for honest and competent leaders ahead of the 2028 elections.
Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, the CBCP president, said the EDSA milestone should be approached not as a token commemoration but as a moral and spiritual reckoning.
“As we do this, we, the CBCP, request you to undertake three sacred duties: to remember, to repent, to respond – that we may welcome again the spirit of that miracle, and bring us to a better future,” Garcera wrote in the letter titled “Remember the Wonders the Lord Has Done,” his first major document since taking over the bishops’ conference late last year.
READ: Church leaders, civic groups call for justice, accountability in 40th EDSA anniversary march
Describing how EDSA became “a vast open-air cathedral of faith and peaceful defiance,” the letter recalled how Filipinos in February 1986 took down the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. “not through violence but through quiet perseverance and power of piety and collective faith that clamored for justice and true change.”
The prelate reflected on the significance of the number 40, recalling that the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness in their journey to the promised land.
The letter also comes as Christians mark Lent, the 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that mirrors Christ’s period of fasting ahead of his passion and eventual resurrection.
But Garcera’s pastoral letter also acknowledged the national failure in safeguarding the democratic gains of People Power, and called for the passage of an anti-political dynasty bill in Congress as a concrete step against massive corruption and impunity.
“We realize that we have squandered the gift of EDSA – the dawn of a new freedom,” it said, adding that Filipinos had become “complacent and complicit to the scandalous corruption and the ugly face of impunity.”
The letter, set to be read in all Masses throughout the Philippines on Sunday, Feb. 22, defined impunity simply: “Ang impunity ay kawalan ng pananagutan; hindi napaparusahan; palaging nakakalusot. Ang mali nagiging normal. Ang kasalanan ay nakakalusot, at ang katarungan ay nananahimik.”
To restore accountability in government, the CBCP called on the faithful to remain vigilant, engage in public discourse and peaceful movements, and ensure that power “remain[s] in the people, not in a few.”
The prelates also stressed the importance of political discernment, saying: “Let us support honest and competent leaders, mindful of the common good. Let us continue the education for good citizenship and governance in view of the 2028 elections.”
For a “prayerful and spiritual celebration” of the anniversary, the CBCP proposed that a triduum of Masses be offered on Feb. 22, 23, and 24 in parishes and dioceses nationwide. A thanksgiving Mass is to be celebrated on Feb. 25 to mark the day of EDSA People Power.
The CBCP pastoral letter reminded the faithful that People Power was ultimately a moment of grace.
“The 1986 People Power was ‘kairos’ – a moment of grace,” it said, calling on Filipinos to once again be “filled with the same spirit that brought the 1986 People Power to fruition.”
