EDITORIAL - Cruelty in the name of pageantry

Many people are now up in arms, figuratively speaking, about what the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of the Immaculate Conception of Malabon did last Easter Sunday.

In its “Salubong” presentation last April 5, the parish got a live dove, fastened it to a stick that spread its wings out wide, then attached it to a bunch of balloons. Its role? To lift a black sheet to unveil a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The dove floated away with the balloons and the sheet, unable to escape from the bar it was attached to. We doubt it survived the ordeal.

There’s no doubt regarding the genius of the theatrics and the pageantry, but did the parish have to use a live animal for that scene? Considering they forced its wings apart and attached it to a bar it was obvious they didn’t want it to move, so they could have used a prop instead.

No doubt this is animal cruelty.

To be fair, the parish has apologized for what it did.

“As Rector and Parish Priest of the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Malabon, I wish to convey my sincere apology regarding the reported balloon-flying incident during the Salubong ritual this past Easter Sunday,” said a statement posted on the parish’s Facebook page.

However, the statement didn’t include the name or signature of parish priest Fr. Mariano Bartolome.

There’s another issue here; the releasing of balloons. Sure, they look good going up, but going down they cause nothing but problems. They become trash that can land just about anywhere, and because they are rubber they won’t degrade for a long time and might even obstruct drainage systems.

In launching the balloons and the live dove to its doom, the parish failed in its role as stewards of the earth taking care of nature, something Christians should be doing as mentioned multiple times in the Bible.

Let’s hope that the parish has learned valuable lessons for its next “Salubong”.