Roads versus festivals
I recently came back from the National Dance Congress held in Bacolod City. Naturally I was not in the dance workshop part of the congress because I am definitely not a dancer. I can dance with my pen on a sheet of paper, but never on stage. Anyway, I belonged to the group for festival managers and organizers because I represent our local museum and local government unit. There were a lot of healthy discussions about festivals and I was quite bothered by a particular new component city with a festival of their own. The lady from this particular city stood and talked about their problems with their own festival. It seemed to me that they had quite a number of concerns regarding their festival, but what irked me most was the fact that I know where that particular city is and I pass by it every time I travel. The road that passes through the city is so bumpy that I always curse whenever I pass by this city's particular stretch of road. I don't even know what to! call it, if it should even be called a road for Christ's sake!
So, then it occurred to me, if a city has guts sending representatives to dance congresses and such, did their local officials ever consider having their roads fixed first before even dreaming of having a decent festival in their locality? From where I come from, we may not have a highly publicized or commercialized festival like Dinagyang or a festival that ends with a Las Vegas glamour show like Sinulog, but at least our roads are well-maintained and you can at least take a nap in the back seat of your car when driving by our city! Kudos to local officials who have their priorities in check! Having a festival to attract tourists in a city with terrible roads is like putting a buffet table filled with great food at the end of a corridor with barbed wire and land mines! I wouldn't blame this new born city for setting their sights on the improvement of their festival though; I just find the idea terribly pathetic! Unaha ninyo danay ang inyo kalsada bag-o kamo mag-! ambisyon nga dalawon ang inyo festival, aysus man!
Poise, poise, ang wrinkles…Hmmmmm…Well, for any schooled college student, Maslow's Hierarchy of needs always comes in handy when talking about priorities. Although we cannot put culture aside, the logical way to go is to first satisfy the basic needs of your people before even thinking about other, higher needs. I find it really disturbing for a local government unit to invest in their cultural ka-ek-ekan when they haven't even facilitated something as obvious as the repair or repaving of their roads. If only there was any other route to go, I would never pass by this city – so much for their festival with people not even wanting to go through the agony of their roads.
I am not saying that their festival should be set aside first because of their terrible roads. What I am saying is that a holistic development approach would be more appropriate. Of course, I don't know the plans of their local government unit; but am I not entitled to wonder why in the many years that I have been taking the same route during my travels the roads have only gone worse? It is even possible that the reason that their festival does not really become a premier attraction is because getting there is a torment in itself. Don't get me wrong, I know that national roads are a responsibility of the DPWH, but has the local government unit ever taken the initiative to bring this issue to the attention of their district representative or the DPWH itself? I don't really know…just asking.
Forgive me, but I just happen to be a very vocal traveler. Oh, and the cleanliness – Good Lord! See, I tend to nit pick whenever I find something to start with. I am the kind of person who, when confronted with a loose thread hanging from the sleeves of someone's shirt, aches terribly to try and pull off that loose thread.
My suggestion – please, please, please have your priorities in check. You won't gain anything from constantly blabbering about other higher concerns when you can't even resolve basic issues first. I am proud of my city and I have seen many other cities who have their people firmly in their developmental goals; and the sincere dedication to service really shines through. LGUs that address the basic needs of their people first have more credibility talking about the higher demands of arts and culture. As an artist myself, let me tell you that I cannot write on an empty stomach; it has to be either filled with some food or a dousing of alcohol (joke). Like humans, cities are living, breathing entities, and when some aspect of it is left un-nurtured (like roads for instance) the city dies a natural death, if not from cultural starvation, perhaps from a blow to the head. So what comes first? Festivals or roads? The chicken or the egg?
Be rational; be insane…every once in a while! TTFN!
I love you all! Byers!