DINAGYANG Festival this year is so unlike the celebrations in previous years. Everything is “virtual”, that is, live-streamed on social media and the internet. Pre-recorded. There will be no infectious rumbling of drums and actual dancing on the streets. No thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
But there’s an upside to this. For one, it prevents the spread of the virus as there will be no huge, loud and riotous crowds where physical distancing would be certainly impossible to impose. That is why the city government led by Mayor Jerry Treñas and the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. deserve a pat on the back for conceptualizing Dinagyang Digital 2021. This ensures that Ilonggos can continue to celebrate Dinagyang the safest way while the city battles the pandemic. It also makes the festivity more solemn; it is, after all, a socio-religious-cultural affair.
The coronavirus has disrupted our lives. Dinagyang Digital gives us hope that things would get better if all just cooperate and unite, keep the faith, and give premium to things that matter – like our health. Yes, good health is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Also, unlike in previous years, this year’s Dinagyang would be generally less trashy – and we mean there won’t be gargantuan stinking garbage on the city’s streets to clean the next morning. Refreshing, isn’t it? The celebration will be, by and large, a drastic departure from the hedonistic, solid waste-generating bacchanalia that we are all so familiar with. The good effects on this on our bodies and the environment cannot be overemphasized. The visible decrease in the volume of discards – recyclable or not – which are often left lying on the streets after the revelry would be most welcome.
Let’s be blunt about this. The widespread littering and defilement of Iloilo City every Dinagyang speaks of the low regard people have on the environment, the value of cleanliness, and solid waste management. We are saddened by the lack of respect for the environment by people who simply leave their discards lying on the ground for others to pick up. Come to think of it, Dinagyang Digital gives us the opportunity to reflect on our responsibility as stewards of our fragile environment.
This year’s austere and simple celebration amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope, will be the beginning of a more environmentally-responsible observance of this faith-inspired occasion. Because if we come right down to it, the true essence of our faith-stirred celebration is not measured by gaudy costumes, well-choreographed dancing or how grand the street parties are, but on how we care for one another and for our Mother Earth, especially in times of difficulties such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.
