The first week of the first month of the New Year happens to be Sinulog Week 1 for Cebu City in particular but its fame around the country and the rest of the world had associated the three-week long festival with Cebu as well and if Mayor Tomas Osmeña can find a way to do so, it will be much shorter and faster this time.
And it is just as well. Having celebrated both Christmas and New Year, maybe it’s time for Cebuanos and their visitors to tone the revelry to manageable levels and emphasize the Sinulog’s religious elements over its celebratory nature.
While Osmeña replaced the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan with Sinulog sa Barangay, it remains to be seen if this is merely a name change or if it is a shorter version of the event, given that there are “only” 10 participating barangays or villages.
The mayor had been emphatic about sparing the schoolchildren from the rigors and the taxing schedule of practices for the event which also leads to the Sinulog Grand Parade and Presentation at the Cebu City Sports Center, and this deserves a second and third look by the Sinulog Foundation.
The foundation’s founders and leaders still cling to the belief that schoolchildren should be made to appreciate the nature and meaning of sacrifice for the Sto. Niño by dancing their hearts out for him when it would probably be just as if not more appreciated by both their God and the Church if they simply listen and heed the messages delivered by the Church’s priests on the days leading up to the Sinulog.
On this note, what say Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma on the mayor’s proposal to spare at least the elementary and high school children from joining dance presentations and instead allow them to attend homilies with their parents?
On yet another issue, we hope Cebu City Hall’s decision to expedite the Sinulog Grand Parade and Dance Presentation by a few hours would ensure the safety of everyone concerned in light of the Dec. 28 bombing in Hilongos, Leyte that left 27 people injured.
But even before the bombing occurred, the after party that follows at Fuente Osmeña and the surrounding areas are just as ripe grounds to sow chaos and mayhem among the revelers for those with malicious and anarchist intentions.
We’d repeat to say ad nauseum that last year’s Sinulog after party celebration was a perfect example of how NOT to handle street revelers who are either too drunk or too stoned to care about other people’s safety and even their own. With Osmeña as the new Sinulog Foundation chairman issuing an order to arrest anyone causing havoc and harassing fellow revelers, it is up to Cebu City residents to help ensure that the annual celebration is safe for their visitors.
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