Sinulog organizers asked to allow 100 Cebu dancing inmates to participate

Sun.Star: CEBU CITY - Pitching it as “something new to the traditional Sinulog presentation," Capitol security consultant Byron Garcia yesterday formally asked organizers to let provincial detainees dance during the Sinulog on Jan. 20. Garcia wrote a two-page letter to Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, chairman of the Sinulog Foundation Inc., in which he also addressed security concerns. Meanwhile, Rama is considering the possibility of having inmates from the Cebu City Jail perform too. The vice mayor said that the annual Sinulog festival can be a venue for the inmates to pay tribute to the Señor Sto. Niño, as long as security measures are well considered. Garcia clarified that the “dancing inmates" only want to perform at the Cebu City Sports Complex and will not join the street parade. They want to perform in the free interpretation category. One hundred detainees will be chosen for the activity. “They will be transported from CPDRC to the Abellana grounds using four prison buses, which will also serve as their holding area before their five-minute performance," Garcia’s letter read. One jail guard will be assigned per detainee, he added. 10 minutes “During the presentation, 120 jail guards will cordon the stage and will lead the inmates back to their prison buses and straight to the CPDRC after their five-minute dance number," Garcia said in the letter. “All in all, the inmates will only be setting foot at the Abellana grounds for not more than 10 minutes," he said. According to the letter, the inmates’ Sinulog presentation will showcase the successful rehabilitation and management of Cebu’s inmates. “This opportunity to showcase must not be constrained and impeded by any other agenda," Garcia said. “By showing these highly disciplined inmates to the rest of our fellow Cebuanos locally and internationally, then perhaps, we might just be giving hope to the people that after all Cebu is not just about the mardi gras, but rather, Cebu is about leadership and good governance," he said. Rama praised the city’s police force for doing well over the Christmas holidays, despite the fact that a policeman died in an alleged shootout with a fellow policeman on Christmas Eve. Keeping fit As head of the Police Coordinating and Advisory council (PCAC), Rama suggested that the training needs of the police be reexamined. “Try checking the policemen we have. Not all of the over 1,000 policemen we have are well trained, so they need to go back to basic courses. Look at the stomachs of several of these men. How can they run after suspects if they won’t keep themselves fit and healthy? They might be the ones who will end up in the hospital because of heart attacks," said Rama. A source from the Cebu City Police Office, who refused to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said their office regularly holds monthly “spiritual formation" sessions. They also held sports tournaments for the police to help keep them fit, but these were not conducted this year because of the lack of funds. At City Hall, Rama said he could seek aid from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to fund his proposed training program. - Sun.Star