Forty years after the EDSA People Power Revolution, Catholic student leaders from across the country, including 15 delegates from Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines – Cordillera Administrative Region (CEAP-CAR), gathered at the Ateneo de Manila University for the first nationwide CEAP Youth Summit, declaring that EDSA is not merely a memory to preserve but a mission to continue.
In his welcome address, Fr. Roberto C. Yap, S.J., described the youth as “drivers of transformation,” urging them to defend truth in an age of disinformation and to recognize that democracy depends not only on institutions but on morally formed citizens.
CEAP Vice President Fr. Wilmer Joseph S. Tria framed the summit as “history in the making,” reminding delegates that from biblical and ecclesial figures to Filipino heroes like José Rizal, the nation’s decisive turning points have often been shaped by the courage of the young.
Historian Prof. Xiao Chua energized participants by challenging the notion that one must have lived through 1986 to defend it today, insisting that EDSA lives wherever conscience chooses truth over silence and action over apathy.
Through powerful testimonies from Martial Law witnesses, insights from civic leaders, a Eucharistic celebration, and immersion visits to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani and the EDSA Shrine, the first day of the Summit drew on the commemoration of EDSA to become a living call to political vigilance and moral responsibility.
The second day opened at Miriam College with spiritually-centered conversations and sharings that deepened the delegates’ perception of EDSA, as they were presented with ways to examine the state of Philippine democracy and their role in safeguarding it.
In his plenary address, Mr. Karlo Abadines of Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan confronted the enduring realities of political dynasties, corruption, and misinformation, urging student leaders to practice grassroots listening and prepare for decisive participation in the 2028 elections.
The summit celebrated the creativity and talents of the youth through the EDSA Kwarenta Contest awarding ceremony, which recognized winning entries of essays and digital illustrations that incarnated historical reckoning as artistic witness and civic engagement.
Delegates, alongside other students, workers, priests, nuns, seminarians, and youth, then marched to the People Power Monument in the “Tayo ang People Power March,” carrying and embodying the conviction that democracy survives only when citizens refuse indifference.
The gathering culminated in a solemn Mass at the EDSA Shrine, where Archbishop Socrates D. Villegas, DD urged the faithful to move beyond nostalgia toward repentance and courageous social action, echoing CEAP’s JEEPGY mission of Justice, Ecological Integrity, Engaged Citizenship, Poverty Alleviation, Gender Equality, and Youth Empowerment as the concrete path through which today’s youth must carry forward the unfinished mission of the EDSA People Power Revolution. (Article and Photos by Bro. Xavier Romeo C. Emnace and Dr. Joi C. Gutierrez)
