WHAT HAPPENS when the celebration of age-old traditions loses their significance and, in the process, cause people more harm than good?
The days that followed the annual basaan held in celebration of the feast of St. John the Baptist on June 24 were filled with nothing but sob stories that were heart-wrenching, annoying and infuriating, all rolled into one.
A lot of people aired their frustrations on social media recounting how a few minutes of merrymaking have caused unimaginable damage to some commuters who were on their way to work, with some students carrying important academic documents and a few others who were off to scheduled job interviews or other important and life-changing appointments.
The images shown on leading newspapers and the videos flashed on primetime news were nothing short of riotous as some residents climbed on the hood of a taxicab while others even tried to open the closed doors of some vehicles. There were some who blocked a passenger jeep on purpose, doused the passengers despite their repeated pleas. There was even a video taken in the City of San Juan that showed a man who used a water gun on a motorcycle rider while at the same time making a mocking face.
As if the incidents in the City of San Juan were not enough, the town fiesta celebration in Apalit on June 29 was not without its share of controversies. What was normally a 20-minute drive along MacArthur Highway turned into three to four hours of agonizing traffic caused by people dancing in the streets, blocking the vehicles with some folks even climbing on the hoods while others banging heavily the buses, cars and vans. What should have been a celebration right inside the privacy of their homes turned into one unruly and disruptive street party with no police officers or barangay tanods in sight.
Some commuters who did not want to miss the holy Mass opted to walk their way to the parish church but had to face some dousing along the street of Barangay San Juan. Many had no other option but to stay inside the vehicles in utter anger and frustration.
The irony of it all is that the fluvial parade or libad of the town’s patron saint, Apung Iru, was very organized and well attended by local devotees and some who came from different places just to join the three-day festivity to continue the town’s rich tradition.
After acknowledging the inconvenience experienced by many people during the Wattah Wattah Fesival, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora had vowed to conduct a probe on the rowdy behaviour of some residents. In an interview, Zamora said that those who gave the annual festival a bad name will be dealt with corresponding sanctions and will be given a lesson they will never forget. Together with the City Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office, they have acknowledged the need to review existing guidelines and pledged to institute changes and set additional and more specific parameters in the annual celebration.
On the other hand, some had called on the Church leaders to educate the Filipino faithful on the significance of these traditions. Many feel that the religious significance has been lost through the years, no thanks to the merrymaking, water-splashing activities that were done purely in the spirit of fun.
For the record, the Church has not been remiss in its duty to emphasize the deepening of faith over these activities. I remember our parish priest Fr. Marcelino Mandap challenging the attendees of the nine-day novena fiesta Masses in our parish to live out the virtues of our patron saint in their daily lives, more than trying to please and impress every single guest with the sumptuous meals prepared in their homes.
The tradition is never the problem. To a certain extent, even the celebration itself is not the problem. It is the people who define their own celebration of the tradition that create problems. This is true when the celebration is rooted on a shallow reason to have fun for the sake of having one, even when this is at the expense of other people; and even when there is glaring disconnect between the celebration and the reason for the celebration.
