Some Things The Sinulog Foundation Should Do
Last Sunday was the Sinulog Festival in Cebu, Philippines and it was one tiring day. The inconsistent weather was the initial culprit. It was my first time to be able to have VIP access so I could take photos of the contingents. While my friend and I were taking photos, some nutcase whom I do not know which group he belongs to suddenly shouted at my friend.
He was complaining that since the street was getting narrow because of the many people watching the parade, the guy got upset that my friend placed her baby’s stroller near the side. It got even worse when he told my friend why she had to bring her baby along. I guess that snapped my friend because the way she talked back seemed like she was upset about it (and for good reason).
It is true that my friend asked the Sinulog Foundation Office in Abellana if she could bring her baby along and she was told yes. The guy was pretty arrogant, he wanted to know the name of the person who told her yes. He even called security right away and threatened my friend that if it were him, he’d leave right away as security was coming. Man, when I heard him tell my friend that the I.D. she wore was fake I had to butt in. I told his other companion that if my I.D. was fake, then a whole lot of photographers in the area wore fake I.Ds since the office in Abellana school was where majority of the photographers bought their passes.
That guy did not even have an I.D. What the Sinulog Foundation should do is issue those in charge of crowd control to wear I.Ds. He was not even wearing any uniform. He was only in civilian clothing. Plus there should be a hotline number (mobile or landline) to call up in case participants get harrassed by numbskulls like him.
I wanted to take pictures of his face by raising up my camera without him noticing it so I could report it to the Sinulog Foundation but did not risk doing so, else he might make a scene and I would end up in the news. The security people were pretty calm. What my friend did was undo her baby’s stroller and all was well. It should have been nothing if he only politely told my friend to fix her stroller as it occupied a big space on the street. Why shout when you can talk calmly, right? My friend specifically told him if she was told that she could not bring her baby, then she would not have bought the passes to be able to take photos of the parade because no one would tend to her baby while she joins the photography contest.
What the Sinulog Foundation should do is educate these people of the things that are allowed and not allowed. My friend couldn’t do much except talk back because people like him abuse their authority. If such a hotline existed, my friend would have called the person in the Abellana office and confirmed it again. Then the guy would have been embarrassed and she can raise her voice back at him repeatedly. Sadly, no such hotline exists and these people are left to do whatever they want.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 3:09 am and is filed under life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
