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Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Editorial: Banning the Sandiegos
Sinulog organizers have barred the Sandiego Dance Troupe and other guest performers from taking part in the street dancing on Sunday.
The reason is valid enough. They want to reduce gaps between contingents, delays, and confusion that, they say, are caused by guest groups.
Those defects have hounded Sinulog year after year and organizers, who want to top each preceding year’s presentation, perpetually search for ideas to remove them.
There seems to be a major flaw in implementing the new policy, however.
If we are to believe the Sandiegos, they must have been informed only this week, otherwise they would not have gone through the ordeal of conceptualizing and implementing their dance number.
The practice sessions must have taken hundreds of hours. The costumes must have cost a lot of money.
Now they are telling the public they are ready to dance and will dance anywhere on the streets on Sinulog day. That’s toughness arising not only from passion for craft and religion. That must also come from a compelling need to be treated fairly.
They would not have this stubborn will to perform had they and other guest contingents been told, early and firmly, that this time they are not welcome.
The situation is not hopeless though. There are solutions to the crisis. The Sandiegos and other guest performers can be found way in which they can still perform and be seen by the public without threatening the success of the overall Sinulog presentation.
They can be told to behave this time or be forever banned in future Sinulogs. Or their performance can be limited at the Cebu Sports Complex as bonus to the audience.
While Sinulog organizers need to be strong in enforcing rules they believe will improve Cebu’s annual grand show, they don’t have to be arbitrary and harsh.
Especially not to the Sandiego choreographers and dancers who, for the past 24 years, have consistently exhibited creativity, skill and passion in their work.
Missing the point
Those looking into the case of Daniel Machanik must not fail the purpose of the inquiry, which is to determine whether he violated our laws on obscenity or sexual abuse.
Was his use of a website to show our women in sex talk, if not sex display, a crime? If it was not a crime—neither a violation of the e-commerce law and the penal code nor an assault on the special law on sexual abuse—was it not exploitative of poor or misguided women and at least must be publicly discouraged and condemned? Did he not violate immigration laws or the unwritten code of behavior for foreign visitors?
The perceived improprieties of public officials John-john Osmeña and Victor Maambong or the accusations against whistleblower ex-employee Weny Gil or even the alleged sins of the press are side issues.
They can be treated separately but must not be allowed to obscure or divert the charges against Machanik.
(January 14, 2004 issue)
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