Other Hands

The defense lamely offered by the head of the Naga City public employment office, Florencio Tam-Mongoso, for the activities of "Viva Naga, Viva Bicolandia" which were objected to recently by the Archdiocesan Council of the Laity, is that the joint agreement between the Naga City government and the Archdiocese of Caceres "only covers activities held in Plaza Quezon."

Who's kidding whom here?

Mongoso is part of the Tricentenary Executive Committee created by Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo who dialogued with the representatives of the Archdiocese of Caceres regarding-quite precisely-"the suitable celebration of the tercentenary of the Peñafrancia devotion." As part of the said Committee, he knows that what were at issue were not only the activities which the City government allows at Plaza Quezon, but the activities which the City government allows and sponsors during the novena week as being supposedly part of the Peñafrancia Fiesta.

The statement on the joint agreement reached by the City government and the Archdiocese declares that the dialogues were "towards a suitable celebration of the tercentenary of the Peñafrancia devotion." In other words, the dialogues and the agreement were not simply concerning how Plaza Quezon is to be used during the Peñafrancia novena week.

To provide the excuse that the activities of "Viva Naga" were not in breach of the joint agreement because they were not held at Plaza Quezon, and that the said activities were not illegal, indicate-at the very least-his myopic understanding of the celebration of the Peñafrancia devotion. Or worse, an intention to deceive the representatives of the Archdiocese.

Consider, for instance, the case of "beer plazas" and street parties. These were activities previously allowed and sponsored by the City government, but were supposedly banned by the joint agreement because they were "undue distractions" during the novena week. In the first place, these activities were never held at Plaza Quezon; and yet, they were covered by the agreement. How then can one rationally contend that City government-sponsored activities of "Viva Naga" such as pageants, boxing tournament, "drinking fests" held during the Peñafrancia novena week are exempt from the coverage of the joint agreement?

Again, and as evidenced by the lame excuse he provides, there is either a failure in Mongoso's understanding of the issue at hand; in which case, his supposed explanations can impart no clarification but only obfuscation of the real reason behind the "Viva Naga" festival being held during the Peñafrancia novena week. Or, there is duplicity in his offered justification; in which case, his very character becomes suspect.

The members of the Archdiocesan Council of the Laity demanded from Mayor Robredo that "those involved in the conceptualization, approval and implementation of these activities be made accountable for having violated a bilateral agreement that states that 'pageants, street parties and beer plazas are no longer features of Peñafrancia Fiesta.'" As head of the "Viva Naga, Viva Bicolandia Festival" marketing committee, Mongoso is very plausibly part of those involved in the said parasitic festival. And while we concur with the recent editorial of the Bicol Mail which identified Mayor Robredo as "actually [the] one hand involved in the conceptualization, approval and implementation of these Viva Naga, Viva Bicolandia activities that are empty of any religious content," we also discern that there are other hands who acted in concert with the multi-awarded Mayor of the multi-awarded Naga City government.

They too must be held and made accountable for the breach in the joint agreement.