Roperos: Overreacting

Thursday, January 12, 2012

THERE is a bit of rationale in the concern Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy young showed in opposing the enthusiastic participation of schoolchildren in the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan in the past years. While there is basis for his objection, still the matter looks petty because only a minuscule number of pupils are asked to join.

I think the VM’s objection would have a bearing on the academic pursuit of schoolchildren if, say, half or even just a third of the students are pulled out of classes to practice. In the case of the Abellana National School, for instance, only some 300 out of a few thousand students participate.

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To stop the kids’ participation in the annual celebration in honor of the Santo Nino is to deny them the opportunity to appreciate our uniquely cultural and religious heritage. The truth is that there is a measure of political overplay involved, which is rather uncalled for on the part of the city’s second highest official.

There appears to be an ill-advised and misdirected appreciation of the annual show by the vice mayor considering that the root of the tradition is our people’s deep cultural and religious values that are shared by the people of Cebu City and the whole of Central Visayas, as well as Christian/Catholic believers in the tale of the Santo Niño’s appearance in Cebu. While the VM’s expression of concern may be genuine, saying it at this particular moment is, to me, rather ill-timed.

In any case, since I also believe in the sincerity of the vice mayor’s complaint, there is real need to look into how best the problem may be resolved without necessarily abolishing the children’s participation in the Sinulog in the coming years. After all, it cannot also be denied or played down that those who participate in the activity will also enrich their values, such as discipline, team work and personal relations.

Perhaps, in the matter of the National Achievement Test (NAT), which I think is more about general information and current events, the teachers should extend special classes to the Sinulog participants in their respective schools. I firmly believe that participation in the Sinulog is a matter of social and cultural urgency to us in Cebu and Central Visayas since it is the province and our region that has been identified as the seat of Christianity in Asia.

In this regard, I don’t think that it is ever a wise and sincere move to let politics play even just a little bit of role in our celebration of the Sinulog. We should look at it with political detachment and objectivity.

Let it remain purely religious, and apolitical.