When giants dance I

n the Giant Lantern Festival, where there is light, there is music. It is music that gives life to the lanterns. Without the musical accompaniment, the festival would be bereft of merriment and the festive spirit that it brings. In the olden days before canned music became the trend, each of the lanterns in the Ligligan Parul were accompanied by Kapampangan brass bands, such as the Banda 31 of Sasmuan, Pampanga.

The Giant Lantern Festival competition, as it is organized in contemporary times is divided into three rounds where in each barangay lantern is given the chance to showcase its prowess in the interplay of lights and music. For the first round, each lantern is given seven minutes, with the music of choice of that particular barangay or lantern maker. For the second round, the participants are assigned to groups in which the lantern showdown begins. At this part, the rotor operators will have to adapt to the musical pieces which they will be hearing for the first time. This is like a flash mob kind of dancing for the giant lanterns. In the final round, the lanterns will be dancing to the music coming from the Betis Band 48 under the baton of Professor Edwin Lumanug, as a homage to the musical heritage of the festival.

There have been many observations on the choice of music of the lantern makers and barangays in the past, not all of them pleasant. There have been well-meaning suggestions to change the music to only classical pieces worthy of the beauty of the giant lanterns.

But locals of San Fernando know otherwise. There is something for everyone in the music used in the Giant Lantern competition. From Del Pilar’s trademark use of Voltes V which dates back to the early 80s when Mario Datu and Juaning Canlas were still around, and the US Marine Corps march that they still use these days.

Santa Lucia might still play its trademark Hawaii FiveO or Telabastagan’s Mambo No. 5. Whoever said that our lantern makers don’t use classical music must not have heard when the lanterns danced to the William Tell Overture and other traditional marches.

Aside from Kapampangan Christmas music, OPM hits, Christmas carols, mambo and ballroom dancing tunes, pop songs will remain to be part of the musical tradition in the festival, from Gangnam style to the latest K-pop craze or the current most popular telenovela theme song.

The music of each giant lantern reflects how humble our lantern makers are in their upbringing, and how tuned and attuned they are to the fabric of the community they thrive in.

At the end of the day, the giant lanterns in all their glory, when they dance, reflect the musical influences of artists who come from all walks of life. And as the Latin saying goes, De gustibus non est disputandum, there is no disputing the taste of people.

we can do better than this for children in conflict with the law (CICL). Like it or not, they are one significant part of this nation’s future, the other being the “well-behaved”children of the rest of the community.

Those who oppose the death penalty must oppose even more vehemently the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility from fifteen to nine years old. If the death penalty is too lazy a solution to adult crimes how much more perfunctory is the amendment to Republic Act 9344 as a solution to the problem of CICL?

Websters’ Dictionary defines “perfunctory” as “characterized by routine or superficiality”and “lacking in interest or enthusiasm.” The amendment to RA 9344 is exactly all that and more. It fails miserably to go deep into the problem, smacks of irresponsible uncaring towards affected minors. It’s almost like our legislators are okay with the rising incidence of CICL but are simply content with

WHY is that when law yers are involved in a scandal, they get a lot more beating from their own colleagues?

The severe bashing that Bureau of Immigration (BI) Associate Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles get has come from opinion writers, broadcast talk show hosts and legislators -- who're also lawyers. Argosino and Robles are President Duterte's and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre's batch-mates and frat brothers at San Beda Law College. Their ties to high officials have opened them to more scrutiny. But it's their being lawyers that brings them ridicule.

Argosino and Robles came up with the lamest of excuses why they kept P20 million cash for 15 days or so, allegedly from online gambling tycoon Jack Lam, and surrendering it only after the bribe was exposed. The excuse: they were holding it "as evidence of future corruption."

It looks like the BI lawyers are bashed more for the poor "cover-up" than for the crime.

The shame is not so much over lawyers committing the crime as for the mediocrity in pulling it off. Lamer The bar was raised a notch higher, thus the failure of these explanations:

-- They didn't turn over the cash earlier because of the "secrecy" of their missi on.

-- They knew the Parañaque casino teemed with spy cameras, yet they were open in carrying the bags of money, which meant they weren't hiding it.

-- Four hours after they got they P20 million, they allegedly asked for P30 million more. To free the foreign nationals arrested for working illegally at Lam's gaming resort? To collect more evidence of "future corruption."

-- Why didn't they arrest middleman Wally Sombero as the crime was already being committed? They wanted Lam, he wasn't there and the cash was. Still, Lam got away.

Lamer than what they sought to explain. And they are lawyers and lawyers, their lawyer-critics say, are not stupid.