A well-deserved kudos to Iloilo's cops, army
It is back to normal (and reality) for most of us Ilonggos after days of Dinagyang merriment and celebration. From the local warriors and visiting ones as in the case of a personal favorite – Tribu Ivatan of Batanes, to the thousands of student and medical volunteers, to the hundreds of kiosk-renters, – yes, it is most certainly back to normal and reality.
Back to normal too for the hundreds of city cops and augmentation forces from the intelligence community and the Philippine Army mobilized primarily by the Iloilo City Government. And while highly possible (and plausible) for so much more to have not even felt the tremors and had as much as a glimpse of the performances ( The News Today friend Aldrich Aparicio one of them), yesterday saw the normalcy in the city.
So this column for my post-festival say.
First things first, from my vantage point of the entire three-day celebration, I wish to congratulate the men and women behind and of the Dinagyang festivities. Certainly Iloilo City has gone a long way with innovations after innovations through the years with the events literally better. Over-all, congratulations to Mayor Jerry Trenas yet above all, congratulations to the thousands of Ilonggos for making it happen.
My vantage-point of the events got me Friday evening in the Capitol grounds for its own version of food festival and festivities. There were bands that played music totally alien to me while grilled chicken, boneless bangus and pork barbecue dominated the menu for that night. Of course, every Filipino celebration's 'patron saint,' San Miguel and San Miguel light added to the fun and fervor. By the end of the evening or early hours of dawn, I swear the revelers all look like movie stars to each other.
Saturday and Sunday being the highlights saw thousands of locals and guests walking through the city's major streets. I can not comprehend how some chose to bring tots and toddlers including several I saw that seemed to have just been born last week. I know festivals should be a family affair but I personally think it is way too much to expose these babies to potential stampede, potential danger, potential sickness.
Which brings me to the gist of this column. My hats off to the men and women of the Philippine National Police and the military particularly members of the Philippine Army. Sunday afternoon had me and the rest of The News Today family (whatever and whoever's left of us that day still able to re-group) stationed by Valeria Street. Specifically we were seated for the entire bright Sunday afternoon until very late evening by the "SM Boys" kiosk infront of Deco's in SM Delgado.
I have not really been out for the longest time as a matter of choice, but as a matter of circumstance I was out there for the Dinagyang. A strong advocate (Translation: Under doctor's orders) against alcohol and caffeine, I was the unpaid guest relations officer of our table. Some six hours into that vantage-point, I was most pleased to see familiar faces of our police officers including those in plainclothes. And there was lots of them going back and forth, back and forth. Come nighttime with the drunk even drunkier and those with pent-up emotions of an abused childhood or deprived of sex highly-emotional, no less than Senior Supt. Wesley Barayuga was most patient in dealing and checking the crowd. I also saw old police friends from way back, armed and sort of menacing (kind-menacing) elite SWAT officers and Army soldiers.
One incident by Marymart Mall had the quick response of four Regional Mobile Group soldiers quietly take a group of unruly men apparently too drunk to care anyway. And that Valeria street episode Sunday evening. Hours of people-watching ultimately led to a near stampede and again, from my vantage point, it had all the ingredients of a potential disaster and tragedy.
We had to help at least two children out of harm's way, one about aged 7 selling peanuts and the other, he looked like that child star Makisig. Both were caught up in the pushing and shoving of at least 3,000 people who came from nowhere.
The reporter in me was all set but then the mother in me was not. In my mind, "God bless my teen-age sons for being at home." Our group saw men and women literally crushed into each other's bodies and there seemed to be no end to it.
Thank God that nothing major came out of it which brings me to this reminder to our top cops – while we regulate the vehicular traffic, it really is best to include in our future celebrations the regulation of human traffic. That near-stampede we witnessed Sunday evening was brought by the crowd apparently not guided where to pass going to yet another fun zone. One large crowd going to one direction met an equally large crowd "head-on" that practically had minutes in shoving, yelling, pushing and a lot of crying from the youngsters.
Still, what the police can do that evening was done. I felt that when we went home and it was certainly a good feeling – to be safe in such unsafe environment. Yes we witnessed that near stampede but no, it was ultimately averted, more by grace of God and yes, using the presence of security in the area.
Dinagyang fever is over. Let us all go back to work.