The Congregation of the Mission in the Philippines, or the Vincentians, marked the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power uprising on Feb. 24 with a call to confront what they described as entrenched injustice that continues to affect the poor.
Fr. Geowen Porcincula, CM, head of the Vincentian Social Ministry, delivered a reflection during the commemoration at the Santuario de San Vicente de Paul complex, linking the 1986 uprising to present social realities.
“Forty years ago, Filipinos gathered on EDSA because they believed that something fundamental had been broken,” Porcincula said.
Recalling the period under Ferdinand Marcos Sr., he said: “Under the rule of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., many experienced censorship, human rights violations, economic collapse, cronyism, and widening poverty. Voices of dissent were silenced. Activists were detained, harassed, or worse, killed. Public institutions were weakened by fear and patronage.”
“People rose not only to change leadership, but to reclaim dignity,” he added.
Porcincula acknowledged that the country now lives “under a different administration and in a formally restored democracy,” noting that “Elections are held. Institutions function.” He also said, “The political climate is not identical to the years of martial law.”
Yet he stressed that “for many Filipinos, especially the poor, the deeper questions remain unresolved.”
He cited homelessness, hunger, land disputes, harassment and red-tagging of activists, stark social inequality, political dynasties, and recurring corruption allegations.
“The names have changed. The structures remain,” he said.
Drawing a contrast between past and present, Porcincula declared: “Then, the struggle was against visible repression. Now, the struggle is against normalized injustice.”
“For us, Vincentians, the comparison is not about personalities. It is about people,” he said. “The poor were vulnerable in the 1980s. They remain vulnerable today.”
He posed a series of questions: “Has power become more accountable? Has land reform been completed? Has political patronage diminished? Has economic policy truly centered the poor?” He added, “If the answer is incomplete, then our mission remains unfinished.”
Invoking the Vincentian tradition, he said: “If EDSA reclaimed democracy, our task now is to ensure that democracy protects the poor.”
“For the Vincentian Family, this is not about nostalgia. It is about responsibility,” he said. “The poor are still waiting.”
