Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Maxey: Araw parade and PacMania By Ram Maxey Bar None
THE 71st Araw ng Dabaw celebration set for next month may yet be the best ever, judging by the way the organizers have been preparing for the extravaganza. But there could be a fly in the ointment.
Among the events highlighting the annual celebration are a sports festival, agri-industrial fair, launching of Balik Dabaw sa 2012, trade fair and flea market, dance and music concerts (Davao Philharmonic Orchestra, Royeca Ballet, SAMADHI, Kathara Dance Ensemble, Madayaw Dance Ensemble, Pahalipay ni Mayor Concert), thanksgiving mass, Datu Bago Conferment Rites, Mutya ng Dabaw Coronation Night, and the culminating Grand Parade on March 16. All that and more, besides.
As if all the foregoing aren't enough to make Araw ng Dabaw 2008 complete, there is one other feature that has never been a part of the annual celebration ever since it all started way, way back in 1937 but which is the most awaited of all the events lined up this time: the public live showing on a couple of widescreens of Manny "Pacman" Paquiao's title-fight dubbed "Unfinished Business" with defending world superfeatherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico in Las Vegas on the same day.
According to the organizers' reckoning, the fight could start on or before 12:00 noon on March 16, just about the time the parade ends. One widescreen will be put up at Rizal Park where the parade culminates and another inside the Almendras gym.
There has been some anxiety over the possibility that the fight in Las Vegas would be telecast even before the parade ends and cause a stampede by avid Pacman fans rushing to the park and interfering with the tail end of the parade. Organizers, however, hope that police can control the crowd. But that's a toss-up. Policemen can't be expected to turn their backs to the live telecast and at the same time trying to keep order, di ba? Just like everybody else, they are Pacman fanatics, too. One suggestion is not to put up a widescreen at the Rizal Park, that way the tail end of the parade won't be a casualty to PacMania.
As for the telecast at the Almendras gym, those who prefer to watch the fight there rather than the parade will be jampacking the gym early on. They have had their fill of parades, but a LIVE telecast of a Pacman fight is the be-all and end-all as far as his fanatics are concerned. Anyway, they can still watch next year's 72nd Araw parade. Peks man.
