On June 19, 2009, in line with the call of Archbishop Legaspi to discern concrete ways of enhancing our devotion to Ina to prepare for her 300th anniversary, the Bicol Association of Catholic Schools issued a statement calling for the scrapping of the Military Parade during the Peñafrancia.
"All these schools were unanimous in a shared conviction that a Military Parade has relevance neither to the celebration nor to the enhancement of the Devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia and should not be scheduled within the Novena to Our Lady of Peñafrancia," the BACS explained.
And if the city would still pursue with the Military Parade, the BACS stated that "no BACS school will participate in the parade."
I am told that the BACS drew up its position during a meeting on June 18, led by BACS and AdenU President Fr. Joel S. Tabora, S.J.. Schools represented included Ateneo de Naga University, Universidad de Sta. Isabel, Sta. Monica Academy in Baao, La Consolacion College of Daet, La Consolacion College of Iriga, St. Andrew Academy of Sagñay, Dominican School of Calabanga, Pili Parochial School, and St. Louise de Marillac of Pili.
A look into the history of the Military Parade by noted Bikol historian Danilo Gerona showed that it actually started only in 1940. The parade was in compliance with the order of Gen, Mac Arthur to prepare for war in light of the Second World War that had already begun in Europe in 1939, and military intelligence revealing Japan's invasion plans for the Philippines. Obviously then, the parade was never part of the celebration of Peñafrancia or a tradition like the Traslacion and the Fluvial processions.
More importantly, even the CHED had long issued a memorandum offering NSTP as an alternative to ROTC to help demilitarize the country and engage students in a more productive exercise like social services.
We must never forget the untold sufferings our people endured during the Military Dictatorship of Marcos and the successive coup attempts during Cory Aquino's presidency. Add to these the recent Oakwood Mutiny and Manila Peninsula "rebellion" that only brought havoc to the national economy. More importantly, we have the decades old Moro rebellion and communist insurgency that we have yet to resolve. And insurgency is right in our own backyard, so to speak.
Indeed, to her credit, the President herself has scrapped the traditional Independence Day Parade in favor of a job fair. After all, peace is never achieved by a military solution, but by enhancing development and a progressive society.
Truly, there is time for everything. And the Military Parade is no longer an activity that we must continue with. It has long gone out of time.
For that matter then, the Church and the City may well join hands in more productive avenues of concretizing our devotion like outreach programs to poor parishes or schools, job fairs, Naga River clean-up, health and environment programs, and the like.