MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged Sunday the public to read and stressed the importance of history, as the country marked the 38th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted his father and namesake from power in 1986.
 
The President gave the statement is response to the letter of a certain “Erica”, who pointed out that “people, especially in the Philippines, have distorted ideas of politics.”
 
“Your interest in history is very, very important because we have much to learn from history,” Marcos Jr. said in a vlog uploaded on February 25.
 
“The history that has been made a long, long time ago and the history that is being made now, all of these are important,” he said.

Marcos Jr. — whose family has been accused of hiring trolls and fake accounts to whitewash the atrocities during their patriarch’s dictatorship — underscored that there is a need for the public to read various materials as he acknowledged the proliferation of fake news.
 
“Ang turo sa akin ng lola ko, magbasa ka ng kahit na ano at ikaw na ang bahala na mangilatis kung ano 'yong maganda at ano 'yong hindi tama,” he said.

(My grandmother taught me that you can ready anything and it's up to you to decide which parts are good and which parts are wrong.)
 
“That’s what you can do. That’s what history can guide as with because we have experienced this before,” he added.

On Sunday, various groups held a wreath-laying ceremony at the People Power Monument to commemorate the 1986 demonstrations that toppled Marcos Sr.

While Marcos Jr. remains popular, his campaign to alter the 1987 constitution has proved divisive.

Critics warn the effort could lead to the abolishment of term limits, with presidents currently allowed just one six-year stint in office.

"The theme of this protest is to reject Marcos's charter change moves which is a move to remain (in) power... which is basically what happened 38 years ago," said economist Rosario Guzman, 58, who told AFP that she had also taken part in the 1986 uprising.

"No to Cha-Cha (charter change)," read a protest banner displayed behind a mock black coffin marked "Freedom and Democracy."

At the 38th anniversary march, 21-year-old demonstrator Giu de Sagun said he felt like he was "watching history repeat itself."

Some protesters wore shirts and hats vowing "never again".

At a small, official anniversary event in Manila, a group of government workers raised Philippine flags after laying a wreath in front of the People Power Monument. No senior government officials attended. -- With Agence France-Presse.

• On 38th People Power anniversary, NHCP vows to remember EDSA 'holiday or not'

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