Cebu City and the rest of the world, once again, were entertained by the dazzling wizardry of the Sinulog dancers last Sunday. This yearly celebration has unquestionably become our country’s festival of festivals. Government authorities declared that more than four million people participated in all related activities. According to the Department of Tourism, the city’s hotels enjoyed an unbelievable 80 to 100 percent rate of occupancy within days before and during the Sinulog. It was also reported that over one thousand balikbayans came home to Cebu to pay homage to Sr. Sto. Nino and later marvel at the exquisite dance movements to the rhytmic sound of drums and bugles in the Grand Parade.
There was, however, a fly in the ointment which I belatedly and quite horribly learned post-event. When I opened my cellphone hours after the razzle dazzle, I learned that at the Abellana Grandstand, the master of ceremonies dutifully acknowledged the presence of dignitaries and people holding high government positions. Among those acknowledged were Senator Ana Theresa Navarro Hontiveros-Baraquel, former Senator Paolo Benigno Aguirre Aquino IV and Atty. Jose Manuel Tadeo Icasiano Diokno. The faces of Risa, Bam and Chel (that was how they were familiarly identified) were in a FB post that I received. In another post though, there was former Senator Francis Nepomuceno Pangilinan, Kiko, to many.
Soon after the name of Sen Hontiveros was mentioned, someone booed. We know that a boo is an utterance of disapproval or contempt. That time, it was directed at a person in a crowd, the lady senator, obviously not only for the purpose of humiliating her but perhaps, to get her attention. But what does science tell us of anyone making a boo? The booer is believed to be someone with borderline, antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder (PD) in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Yes, according to science, a booer is, to say brutally, a sick person deserving pity and a prayer to Sto. Nino to heal him miraculously is a rightful thing to do.
Even if my viewing the FB post was done hours after the actual booing, I was shocked by the act of gross disrespect. More so that the boo became thunderously loud as it seemed that thousand others joined the fray. From a corner in my home where I was scrolling my cellphone, I knew that the display of disrespect could be worse than an intended insult. It had to be considered as an unmistakable color of a political revenge. That became clear when the crowd shouted Duterte, Duterte, Duterte. They must have idolized former President Duterte and I surmise that they probably thought Sen Hontiveros as responsible for the concerted efforts to demonize Duterte’s war on drugs.
True to the OFF TANGENT nature of this column, this article is not about my perception that the booing was uncharacteristic Cebuano. Really, such discordant act did not reflect our love of Sr. Sto Nino. Since I imagined that Cebu City residents constituted an absolute minority of the crowd, so the boos did not necessarily reflect us. Be that as it may, I figure that, politically speaking, gubernatorial candidate of Pam Baricuatro can benefit from the popularity of Duterte. The Digong horde of supporters can be Ms. Baricuatro’s secret source of votes this coming election. If Duterte personally comes to Cebu to campaign for Ms. Baricuatro, Gov. Gwen Garcia may have a fight.