Senator Imee Marcos on Tuesday has echoed a statement earlier made by her father, late dictator and former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, that history should not be left to the historians, as the Philippines marked the 34th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
On her Facebook page, Senator Imee Marcos, the Ilocos Norte lawmaker, Â posted a photo quoting her father that read, “History should not be left to the historians. Rather, be like Churchill. Make history and then write it.”
Then President Ferdinand Marcos was referring to British statesman Winston Churchill, who according to the United Kingdom public sector information website, led Britain to victory in the Second World War.
Senator Imee Marcos made the post, as the Philippines  commemorated the 1986 people power revolt that ousted her father and their  family from power and restored democracy in the country.
The People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution, the Philippine Revolution of 1986, EDSA 1986, EDSA I, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986.
There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and alleged electoral fraud. The nonviolent revolution led to the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year presidential rule, and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.
It is also referred to as the Yellow Revolution due to the presence of yellow ribbons during demonstrations following the assassination of Filipino senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. in August 1983.
It was widely seen as a victory of the people against two decades of presidential rule by President Marcos, and made news headlines as “the revolution that surprised the world”.
The majority of the demonstrations took place on a long stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, more commonly known by its acronym EDSA, in Metro Manila from February 22 to 25, 1986.
They involved over two million Filipino civilians, as well as several political and military groups, and religious groups led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the Archbishop of Manila, along with Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines President Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, the Archbishop of Cebu.
The protests, fueled by the resistance and opposition from years of governance by President Marcos and his cronies, culminated with the absolute ruler and his family fleeing Malacañang Palace to exile in Hawaii.
Ninoy Aquino’s widow, Corazon Aquino, was immediately installed as the eleventh President as a result of the revolution.
According to human rights watchdog Amnesty International, around 100,000 people were victims of martial law imposed by President Ferdinand Marcos where 3,000 persons  were killed, 34,000 tortured and 70,000 arrested.
The Marcoses allegedly  amassed an estimated US$5 billionto US$10 billion or more than P500 billion in ill-gotten wealth, based on a study of the World Bank-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) Stolen Asset Recovery report.
The Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the agency tasked with recovering billions of dollars plundered by Ferdinand Marcos and his allies, has recovered a total of P170 billion in the past 30 years.
Recently, the Sandiganbayan has dismissed the P102-billion forfeiture complaint against late Ferdinand Marcos, his widow Imelda, and their cronies over insufficient evidence./Stacy Ang
