February 25, the day that signals the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, has remained a special working holiday under the mandate of the current administration.
This Tuesday afternoon, Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro stated that President Ferdinand “Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. was still studying whether Wednesday would be declared a non-working holiday.
It is set to become the third straight year that the 25th has been categorized as that type of holiday since 2024, pursuant to various proclamations by Marcos.
Although some schools, most of which were Catholic institutions, such as De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas, and Colegio de San Juan de Letran, just to name a few, declared the day as a non-working holiday.
Despite this, various human rights and political groups still have planned on conducting events at EDSA Shrine in Quezon City and in different parts of the country.
The third edition of the Trillion Peso March is scheduled to coincide with the commemoration of EDSA 40, as organizer and political analyst Kiko Aquino Dee noted that it was a day to reflect on how the past is mirrored in the present.
“My strong belief is that history is just sad if it only speaks about the past, history talks to us everyday about the present,” Dee stated.
However, leading up to the 25th, some groups revealed that they were not granted permits by the Quezon City government to conduct their rallies at EDSA Shrine.
This would later be clarified by officials from Quezon City, as they stated that it had in fact issued permits and that it did not consider political affiliation in determining whether a group may rally or not.
“Nililinaw ng Pamahalaang Lungsod na walang grupong ‘hindi pinayagan’ batay sa kanilang paninindigan,” the QC government asserted.
Aside from confirming that it allowed rallies on the 25th, the Quezon City government also posted traffic advisories, citing the roads that might experience heavy traffic due to the events starting at 6:00 a.m.
Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue, Katipunan Avenue, Ortigas Avenue, White Plains Avenue, and Temple Drive were all mentioned as roads that may either be closed or have particular traffic schemes employed to ease traffic.