ASEAN Summit, a welcome fiesta

In the mid 60's, the late Sen. Raul Manglapus proposed a legislative measure which kicked off a storm of debate nationwide. Wanting to ban the celebration of fiestas, he ranged himself against widely cherished practices. The religious sentiments of a predominantly Catholic nation were challenged. Or more correctly, incensed. For various reasons, the lives of many Filipinos were attached with known patron saints and it was such a part of our psyche that the fiesta was the most special way of expressing our thanks.

To the credit of the senator, he was undaunted in his espousal of the intended legislation. Even if he knew that he was dragged into the vortex of heated arguments, he relied upon the validity of his position. His idea was anchored on solid ground. He countered the surge of emotions with hard facts and cold statistical data. The eloquent senator claimed, for instance, that the estimated total yearly expense of the celebrations of the town fiestas amounted to a sum bigger than the national budget then. It was, to him, a waste of money and that it was a better idea to save all expenses planned for the fiesta and divert the same to more productive ventures.

His characterization of the Philippine fiesta was very graphic. Every Filipino household, particularly those in the provinces, was held hostage to a wasteful tradition. He noted that the family would save its meager resources in order to be able to splurge during fiestas. In the celebration of the festivities, no one would go hungry. Wherever a person would go, he was offered food even if both host and guest hardly knew each other.

As history would tell us though, the persuasive tongue of the senator could not overcome a tradition that was well-engrained in our society. Fiesta, being a part of our culture, could not be prevented by legislative action.

Soon, we shall have another fiesta. It is going to be grandiose. This celebration is not related with any religious fervor but the parallelism in terms of our approach to it does not differ much. I am referring to the ASEAN Summit.

We are told that, in December, several heads of states are coming to our island. Their delegations are filled with high-strung officials whose recommendations are tackled at the highest levels of their governments. There are business leaders from the private sectors who are also coming. The investment portfolios, which they have at their disposal, are sure fuel to economic take-off. It is in the highest interest of our nation that we maximize our exposure to this summit.

Like what we normally do to prepare for the annual celebration of a patron saint, such as repair our homes, we spruce our locality for those who are coming to the summit. New facilities of accommodation are rising and existing ones are being upgraded. Millions of pesos are earmarked for roads and other infrastructure projects. The unsightly homes of informal settlers are projected either to be demolished or covered from public view. Security measures are reviewed every now and then to protect and lives and limbs of our visitors.

Admittedly, there are always advantages in being able to project a positive image. This is what our government is trying to accomplish. A clean Cebu City and neighboring cities, will attract investments for which reason our efforts are directed towards this ideal. An orderly society being the home of the capital, our leaders have primed our police forces to make every visitor feel safe and secure.

The defeat of the Manglapus bill brought forth the lesson that fiestas are days we have to look forward to and prepare for. Thus, there is everything to be happy with in our preparation for this fiesta called ASEAN summit. Sure, expenditures have to be made but they are necessary to ensure that our hosting this event will lead to greater opportunities. Amidst all these, there is one more important lesson to learn. We have to realize that, fiesta or no fiesta, there are many things we can do to make our city better than what it is.