Joint Statement an Invitation to Mull on Military Parade's Relevance to Fiesta – BACS

Bicol Association of Catholic Schools' (BACS) president, Fr. Joel Tabora, S.J., expressed the view that the joint statement recently released by the Naga City government and the Archdiocese of Caceres is an invitation to further discern the relevance of the military parade to the celebration of the Peñafrancia Fiesta.

Earlier, the BACS had issued its statement opposing activities which do not have relevance or do not enhance the religious feast's celebration, among them the Military Parade.

The new statement of BACS through its president underscored that "as the participation in the military parade was never compulsory ... the joint statement [serves as] an invitation to reflect anew on the actual values involved in conducting a military parade during the novena to Ina, and as a challenge to voluntarily decide whether these values promote the devotion to Ina or distract from it."

Commenting further on the agreement entered into by Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi with Mayor Jesse Robredo regarding civic and business activities to be permitted by the Naga City government, the BACS statement explained that the association's decision to come up with a discerned position was in keeping with the Archbishop's call for reflection.

Instead of contradicting the said agreement, the BACS statement pointed out that through "the joint press release we are being reminded that joining a military parade during a novena to Ina should be nothing automatic."

It added that through the joint statement of the Archbishop and the Mayor, BACS argued, "we are being asked ourselves to reflect on why spending millions to have our youth from all over Bikol compete with one another in special military uniforms on Naga's streets during the Novena enhances the devotion to Ina.  We are being asked to reflect on whether there might be better ways of forming the youth to be sons and daughters of Ina in Bikol than in having them parade Naga's streets in martial uniforms the day before the Fluvial Procession."

Reiterating its conviction that "the Military parade is better scheduled outside the Peñafrancia Novena," the BACS invited "like-minded" schools to volunteer in not participating in the Military Parade "as long as it is scheduled within the Novena [week]."