EDSA People Power has always been dubiously commemorated. This is partly because Filipinos have since contemplated the veracity of democracy that was restored 34 years ago.

The Philippines is not yet a democratic country, rather we are trapped in a “never-ending democratization process” that started in EDSA, wrote scholars Felipe Miranda and Temario Rivera. This begs the question of what exactly did we achieve in 1986? Is EDSA People Power still worth celebrating?

In answering this question, we begin by problematizing the often dichotomized framing of EDSA. What transpired in People Power has always been referred to the feud of Aquinos and Marcoses. While the assassination of Ninoy Aquino became the impetus for the People Power that successfully ended the 14-year long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, we must highlight the immeasurable and more crucial role of the people in the narrative.

The framing of the EDSA People Power between two political families dismisses the role of an entire nation who collectively raged against tyranny. The undying spirit of millions of Filipinos who left their homes, boycotted work, and fueled their unities in the streets should not be eclipsed in the big name of Aquinos and Marcoses.

Did EDSA fail? Most certainly. After the fervor washed away, a land-grabbing oligarchy replaced the dictator. The control of the ruling class returned, if not strengthened. To this day, the promised genuine land agrarian reform remains elusive. This question has been asked too many times, that the answer is just commonsensical, no more worthy of speculation.

Perhaps the right question to ask today is did EDSA succeed, and if so, in what respect? Here we assert that, yes it did. Not only did it end a strongman rule, but also ignited a sense of unity in such a fragmented and repressed country.

This success we speak of is transcendental of the debate on its efficiency and aftermath, for we saw it materialized, in the television, in our history books, for years to come and generations to remember. We saw it happen.

What Filipinos won in 1986 in the long stretch of the EDSA is a testament to the rest of the world — of power in collective movement. Today, as political crises ripen and an autocrat is once again installed in Malacañang, EDSA is no longer a mere reminder but a call to actively defend what the Filipinos have always fought for.

We can continue to speculate the legitimacy of the democracy we have today, but EDSA triumphed in proving an unequivocal truth: power lies in collective action and exactly, for this reason, it is worthy to be commemorated.