I just want to react on an excerpt of Joe Pallugna’s column “Act Swiftly” in today’s issue of Mindanao Gold Star Daily. In his column he described fiesta as a mere eating, drinking and pestering occasion.
Let me talk of fiestas as the month of May is fiesta month in the Philippines. Fiesta for me, is such a bore and unnecessary expense.
Imagine people going to my hometown Gingoog City and paying a fare of P150 for a Bachelor’s Express bus one way from Cagayan de Oro or a round trip of P300 just to attend the city fiesta. You could very well buy one kilo of lechon for P300 and let your children eat to their heart’s delight while staying at home. No risks of accidents in bus travel, no hassles of children getting dizzy on the bus ride, no drunks pestering you for old times you could hardly remember when you reach your hometown, no relatives asking for money you don’t even have a budget for in the first place.
So the next time there is a fiesta, I wont go anymore and be pestered later on.
I sympathize his feelings about the fiesta. These incidents are true. But the question is, would we allow this minor inconveniences to ruin our fiesta celebration? If we start to think fiesta as a mere occasion to indulge in eating and drinking, then fiesta would really be such a bore.
And yes, one could just buy a kilo of lechon than to travel miles to attend fiesta and eat lechon. But there is a big difference in eating lechon in your house and eating lechon during a fiesta. Its like taking a swim in your swimming pool and swimming in the beach. The latter is much more exciting.
But fiesta celebrations are more than that. Fiesta, like Christmas and New Year celebration, is an occasion for our families to get together and share moments with. Its also a time to see our long lost relatives and friends and rekindle that past we shared. In some parts of the country, people will forego homecoming on Christmas and New Year but not fiesta. Fiesta has a different aura or ambience of a celebration compared to others. Ask the Boholanos. Wherever they are in the world, they would go home in May to Bohol just to attend the fiesta.
The excitement is not on the day of the fiesta itself but on its entirety. From the arrival of the guests and relatives from other places in the world, to the installation of buntings, to the basketball and the amateur singing contests, to the beauty pageants, to the class reunions, to the slaughtering of the animals, to the stacking up of softdrinks and spirits, and to the baking of pastries, the excitement is constantly building up which will culminate in a concelebrated mass to be presided usually by the bishop. This makes fiesta unique, exciting and a very much anticipated occasion, far from the boring description of the Filipino fiesta by Mr. Pallugna.
In the movie “Beautiful Mind” the lead character played by Russel Crowe complained about the boring pace of life. His wife retorted, “Life is a bore, just add meaning to it.” To which I can advice Mr. Pallugna, “fiesta might be bore, just add meaning to it. Indeed everything that has no meaning to you, becomes a bore.
