The veterans of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution gathered on Feb. 25, hopeful despite the current political situation, as they are joined by the youth, their eyes wide open and ready to continue the fight to give true meaning to freedom and democracy.

For the first time in its one year of monthly monitoring of state-related violence, Sandatahang Dahas recorded body dumps of state agents.

Ibon’s Rosario Guzman: The nation’s structure is collapsing because of political instability and a fragile economy due to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s ‘blunders.’ The first was adopting an anti-corruption stance in announcing the anomalous flood control projects while remaining silent on the pork barrel issue.

As the Marcos administration continues to flaunt their relative achievements in a “bloodless” drug war—multiple arrests, tons of confiscated illegal drugs—repeatedly left out of these narratives are the still unmitigated violence that is increasingly perpetrated by criminal elements said to be outside the reach of state forces. And again, state agents continue to kill. The “bloodless” drug war continues, and more so, and as before, spills over to innocent civilians. Their increasing death count cannot simply be dismissed as insignificant casualties.