Public dances or "bailes" are a fixture in Philippine life. Whether in rural areas or in urban settings, there are always bound to be "bailes," especially on Saturday nights but not always necessarily so. These "bailes" could be held in connection with "fiestas sa capilla" or as simple fund-raisers by community or barangay organizations.
Last Saturday night, there was a "baile," or what appeared to be one, across the Cebu City Health Department building and the Carreta barangay hall on General Maxilom Avenue Extension. The "baile" extended way into the street, hampering the flow of traffic, which was still light to moderate as usual in that area despite the lateness of night.
But not only did the "baile" itself extend way into its side of the street, some youngsters took it way across to the other side. It was these youngsters, some as young as probably eight or ten years old, who caused the most trouble because they would not yield to passing vehicles. Dancing right in front of stalled vehicles, it was clear where they got the idea.
On a smaller scale, these people replicated what has become the ugly face of the Sinulog - wild street parties that impede the free movement of other people and their vehicles. It is not clear if the area fell under the jurisdiction of barangay Carreta or belonged to barangay Tejero. But that is not the point. The fact that the mini ala-Sinulog street party happened across two government buildings should have instigated some official reaction.
Surely some tanods must have been present. Or if they could not act because of jurisdictional impediments, they could have alerted the proper authorities. The guards at the City Health building could have called the police. The bottomline is, the "baile" exceeded the norms of proper behavior and became unlawful, at least as far as traffic was concerned.
But even that one incident can be forgiven. What cannot be tolerated is if such behavior is allowed to continue and become the norm during "bailes." There are already mounting concerns about Sinulog street parties without having the same concerns being copied and cloned in the barangays. City and barangay officials need to put their feet down on these activities before they go out of hand.
Last Saturday, it was just that area as mentioned in this article. But God knows where the next Sinulog-inspired street parties erupt among the city's urban barangays. This is not a brief against "bailes" because, as stated, they are a fixture in Philippine life. But drunken orgies, violence, hooliganism, vandalism and plain anarchy are uncharacteristic of the Filipino way of having a good time and must be nipped in the bud.