ATOM reminds Filipinos to celebrate democracy on EDSA 40

By Nash Villena, Philippine Canadian Inquirer
February 22, 2026

(Photo courtesy: August Twenty-One Movement/Facebook)

MANILA, Philippines — The August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) reminded Filipinos to remember the spirit of the first EDSA People Power Revolution that toppled the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. dictatorship in 1986, and channel its lessons in facing today’s social and political issues.

“Today is the 40th anniversary of the night when Butz Aquino of ATOM appealed to the people on Radio Veritas, including his Atom and Bandila members to converge at the Isetann, Cubao. This was the birth of People Power,” ATOM President Volt Bohol stressed in a statement.

“Let us remember that the power belongs to us. Tayo ang People Power (We are the People Power). The time is now to reclaim it as a people, because we have forgotten in the last 40 years that the power rests in the people and not with the people in power,” he added.

Despite February 25 being declared a special working holiday by the Palace, the group urged their countrymen to skip their work on Wednesday to join the mass protests commemorating the restoration of the nation’s history and its continued legacy in contemporary times.

“Kahit na this was declared a working holiday on the 25th, walang papasok!” Volt stressed.

(Even though this year’s anniversary was declared a working holiday on February 25, do not go to work!)

This year’s EDSA 1 anniversary will coincide with massive anti-corruption protests slated, including the third leg of the Trillion Peso March in Quezon City.