1900. Tired. Many people came for the fiesta. My colleagues from PPDO. Family friends and relatives. Ilona and Christoph, young German couple next door. Tony Irving and Sally. Sibyl, a German volunteer. Some people from the barangay. Too tired to reflect.

Only one thought. It’s about the reasons for having fiestas, obviously from our Spanish past.
But the particular reason I like most was the one cited by a friend from our UNICEF days decades ago. He said fiestas are a way of distributing protein. Smart guy!

If you will sum up the money spent for a town fiesta by individual families, communities and local governments, the figure will run up to millions of persons from year to year. Looks like everyone is saving money to be spent for a two-day celebration.

Something in this town was the street lamps and the colorful arches put up by all the barangays along the national highway. There was a contest and several barangays won cash awards.

There was the usual cockfighting. Another to circulate the money around? Games like this with money bets do not produce goods and services to add value to the local economy. Big money only changes hands among the rural elites; no contribution to local production. Besides, gambling sends the message it’s good luck rather than hard work that counts in improving one’s station in life.

Development workers have raged and ranted and fought against gambling and other vices. In the case of fiestas, a senator now dead organized a crusade many decades ago to at least temper or channel the spending during fiestas to productive activities. The campaign failed miserably.

Fiestas are a way to bring family members together in a grand reunion carried out by local communities and supported by their government. The economy may falter, but the expensive celebrations go on.

Some celebrations have taken on development aspects: agro-industrial fair; cultural shows; contests among barangays (cleanest barangay, etc.). Perhaps this is the way to go, rather than fight fiestas. Integrate progressive elements into the centuries-old tradition.