By Dr. Tony Leachon
I remember EDSA.
On February 25, 1986, as a postgraduate intern at Manila Doctors Hospital, I was summoned by Sister Philip Galeno—together with my wife Marge and now medico-legal expert Tony Rebosa—to take the ambulance and join Sister Eva Maamo, a surgeon and Ramon Magsaysay awardee. A million Filipinos filled the streets. The ambulance stood in front of renegade soldiers, while on stage were Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel Ramos.
It was a peaceful rally. Civil society was courageous, united, and unafraid. Ordinary citizens stood shoulder to shoulder against a dictator. That was People Power.
Forty years later, we stand at a painful crossroads. We once believed democracy had been reclaimed. Yet today, corruption is deeper, more brazen, more destructive.
• PhilHealth is defunded.
• Ghost hospitals rise from paper.
• A trillion pesos vanish in flood control programs.
• Education is ravaged.
• Justice is nowhere to be found.
Where is moral courage?
Where is nationalism?
Where is accountability?
The political colors have merged into one ugly compromise, erasing the line between right and wrong. What was once a revolution of hope has been betrayed by silence, complicity, and greed.
But let us remember: People Power was never about colors. It was about conscience. It was about dignity. It was about ordinary Filipinos refusing to surrender freedom.
Today, we must reclaim that spirit—not with nostalgia, but with resolve. We must demand truth, justice, and accountability. We must remind leaders that power is borrowed, never owned. And we must remind ourselves that democracy dies not only in tyranny, but in apathy.
Forty years on, the promise of EDSA remains unfulfilled. But its lesson endures: when citizens find their voice, no dictator, no corrupt system, no false compromise can silence a nation’s moral courage.
Quo Vadis, Philippines?
Will we continue to betray the promise of EDSA—or will we finally honor it with relentless courage, health with honor, and hope in service?
4 Decades On: Still Waiting for Justice
On People Power Day last year, I filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the government’s “zero subsidy” for PhilHealth—a decision that stripped health care of its rightful place in our democracy. One year later, there has been no hearing, no resolution, no justice. The silence is deafening.
Forty years after EDSA, we face leaders who are not only the same—but worse. More corrupt. More performative. Masters of deception who hide scandals behind smiles, press conferences, and empty words. The people, weary and disillusioned, are no longer impressed.
And yet, hope endures. Hope is not weakness—it is resistance. It is faith that truth will prevail, that justice will be heard, and that God listens to the cries of His people.
My petition remains unheard, but my voice—and the voice of countless Filipinos who believe health care is a right—will not be silenced. We fight not for ourselves alone, but for generations to come
#RelentlessForChange
#HealthWithHonor
#HopeInService
