THE August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM), known for its role in the 1986 People Power Revolution, rejected any connection with the Marcos administration, amid a “social media concoction” of a united force. In a statement on its Facebook page on Saturday, the group said there is no tactical alliance with any of the camps of the so-called UniTeam of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte. “The social media concoction of a united force between the admin and the tidal wave-organic color that emerged in 2022 has been consistently floated by certain sectors, especially online. Some bought into it, while others remain adamant in rejecting that idea. We feel that this remains a divisive way to weaken the true opposition, especially those who do not have any plans to coalesce with either the Marcos camp or the Vice President’s camp,” the group said. “Although we do not really campaign for any candidate/s since the last time some of us did it with Cory Aquino’s presidential campaign, one thing is certain: there won’t be any ‘uni-yellow’ ever for the ATOM, at least, as far as our values are concerned. No tactical alliance whatsoever with any of those two ‘UniTeam’ camps,” they added. The opposition group said their interpretation of the color yellow was the same yellow that fought to depose the administration of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. from 1983 to 1986, and was the same color that welcomed home former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983. “ATOM’s yellow remains the same yellow that fought to bring down the Marcos dictatorship from 1983 to 1986. It is the same yellow that tried to welcome Ninoy Aquino on Aug. 21, 1983. It is the same yellow that is deeply rooted in the Filipino people’s democratic values, which mobilized from 1983 to 1986, and not rooted in a political party or a politician. But a yellow that will continue to embrace the ideals of those yellow-ribbon-clad Filipinos who blocked tanks in 1986, who tried to give their children and their grandchildren a better future. The same yellow that will never stop seeking closure for the unfinished 1986 People Power Revolution,” the group said. “History has a lot of advice to tell and remind young people of today, which we have completely ignored for the last forty years since the EDSA People Power. This is why we are in this mess,” they added. They specifically cited that former president Rodrigo Duterte was a “symptom of our failure to address the cause of the illness of our nation,” which was the failure in holding the “conjugal dictatorship” of the first Marcos administration accountable following 1986, as no one was brought to jail. “Even if many trolls on social media say that we’re being hypocritical, sorry to burst the bubble, but there will never be a uni-yellow, at least,” they said.