Thursday, January 03, 2008 Editorial: To dance or not to dance
THAT Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña won’t allow Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) inmates to dance in the Sinulog is not unexpected.
There are two reasons for that: one is valid and the other will be left unsaid.
Some people even think that had it not been for tradition and the mayor’s wife Margot, no way could Gov. Gwen Garcia have been allowed to join the presentation.
Blame that on the ongoing conflict between the governor and the mayor, the second reason why the latter could not possibly allow the inmates to join the Sinulog.
Main reason
The first reason is, of course, legitimate, as it concerns the problem of securing the inmates while they are dancing, whether in the sports complex or in city streets.
Thus, Capitol consultant Byron Garcia won’t be able to provide a platform, this time in front of a local audience and tourists, for CPDRC inmates to show their talents.
Which, in a way, would be unfortunate considering the international fame that the inmates’ algorithm dance, posted in the video sharing website Youtube, has acquired.
A number of Cebuanos and even some visitors would surely have been interested in seeing the inmates, although only a few of them will dance and the routine is different.
Risks, burden
That interest, though, need to be weighed against the risks and the security burden of allowing inmates to join the Sinulog, Byron’s precautionary moves notwithstanding.
The Sinulog Foundation has scheduled a meeting to weigh the security burden of allowing the inmates to dance but Osmeña’s statements may have already preempted that.
For despite the Foundation’s independence, how can it contradict the mayor, who has the last word on the financial support the city will give to the group?
Alternative
Everything is not lost for the CPDRC inmates, however, because their dance can still be presented outside of the Sinulog parade and in a more manageable setting.
Surely, Osmeña cannot stop Capitol from holding its own Fiesta Señor-related activities no matter how heated his conflict with the governor may have become.
