JUST recently, San Juan City in Metro Manila had its Wattah Wattah festival (also known as Basaan Festival.)
During this annual festival, revelers gather around with buckets, waterguns, and hose to douse water on others every 24th of June.
Dousing the water commemorates the Baptism of Jesus Christ by St. John, and for the city of San Juan, the Basaan tradition serves as a way of “pouring blessings” for the city’s continuous success and abundance.
However, during this year’s Wattah Wattah festival, instead of getting blessings, the city of San Juan received so much backlash among people and netizens across social media platforms.
This is due to the damage and disruption that non-San Juan residents got while on the city’s roads on fiesta day.
Those who were just going to school and work ended up being involuntarily “welcomed” by the splash of water that was aimed at them. None of them asked for it but they still became casualties.
While the merrymakers justified their actions as “having fun” during the fiesta, does this excuse one’s unruly behavior that ruined a person’s day?
The fiesta is something that happens only once a year and since it’s something that most people look forward to celebrating, it is no surprise that people would make the most of out it.
And that is just one of the things that the residents of San Juan came to do—to enjoy every moment of it and create fun memories by playing with water.
However, the supposedly fun fiesta activities became an inconvenience for the non-San Juan residents who were inadvertently pulled into the Basaan traditions
Some people who were just passing by the roads of San Juan got wet against their will—with many obtaining damage on their clothes, gadgets, and documents.
Backlash
What was supposed to be a festivity quickly turned into a nightmare for some people.
As such, many netizens on X (formerly Twitter) posted their reactions:
Mayor apologizes
On June 27, San Juan City mayor Francis Zamora apologized to the public and vowed to punish the residents who were involved in the Basaan chaos.
“Ako po ay humihingi ng paumanhin at pasensya sa mga nangyaring ‘yan noong panahon ng aming kapistahan. Alam niyo po ako ay hindi papayag na ang imahe at reputasyon ng lungsod ng San Juan at ng aming kapistahan ay masira ng dahil sa iilang mamamayang nanggulo,” Zamora said during the media conference.
Zamora added that the city government was doing everything it can to identify who violated the city’s ordinance on the fiesta and its Revised Penal code.
Under San Juan’s City ordinance No. 51 series of 2018, individuals who are proven guilty of being unruly during the celebration of fiesta will be fined P2,500 to P5,000, and be imprisoned for up to six days.
Zamora also encouraged the victims to come forward to the city government to help them file complaints against the residents who displayed unruly behavior.
No justification
On social media, there are still some people who are debating whether the festival justified the revelers’ unruly behavior.
While it may be fun to participate in such an activity, one should also think about the possible consequences it has on other people.
Those damaged gadgets, documents, and clothes like uniforms aren’t just material things.
For their owners, those things are crucial to how they live and survive and that is something that the revelers have failed to see.
In times like this, especially when you’re in a busy area, one must be mindful of their surroundings and of other people going on with their lives. This way, we can join enjoy the fiesta without being mindlessly selfish.
