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CHARLOTTE — Members of the Filipino community of the Diocese of Charlotte gathered May 26 to crown Mary and celebrate May as the month of Mary, during a special event at Belle Johnston Park in Pineville to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the "People Power Revolution."

It was the culmination celebration of many rosary groups throughout the diocese, and more that 150 people turned out for the event and to walk in the Marian procession to honor Mary's divine intercession during the revolution that peaceably overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos on Feb. 25, 1986.

The "People Power Revolution" (also known as the EDSA Revolution or the Philippine Revolution of 1986) was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that began in 1983 and culminated in 1986.

The "People Power Revolution" re-established a democratic government in the Philippines after government troops refused to fire upon the estimated 2 million protestors who marched into the capital of Manila, along the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) Highway, the biggest and widest highway in the Philippines, carrying various images of the Blessed Mother while praying the rosary. Marchers were led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, archbishop of Manila.

This nationwide protest movement was galvanized following the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., leader of the Marcos opposition movement and a former senator. Aquino was shot in the head at the Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983, upon returning to the country after a three-year exile. The freedom fighter's widow, Corazon Aquino, was thrust into the spotlight following his death and she was elected president in 1986 in snap elections after Marcos fled the country.

The country erected a monument to Mary on the EDSA Highway to show their appreciation and love for her intercession.

— Photo provided by Dr. Cris Villapando