Why the Pahiyas Festival should be ran by private citizens of Lucban instead of the local government?

Though the polling shows that an overwhelming majority is not in favor of the Pahiyas being ran by private Lucbanins, (28 against, 20 in favor and 2 undecided), the people of Lucban has all the rights and capabilities to make this annual event a success.

Consider the following facts, enough reasons that the Lucban San Isidro Pahiyas Festival should be managed by the people of Lucban and not by the local government:

1.  The Lucban San Isidro Pahiyas Festival is a Catholic church festivities honoring San Isidro.  The festival is being ran by local government officials who are mostly non-Catholics.  This being the case, the Catholic church is being bypassed and not even consulted or involved in the planning and implementation of the festival.  The only time the church authorities are informed, is when the Pahiyas Execom needs the route of the next year’s procession of San Isidro.  Just the title alone that the local government is boasting of, is stripped, most of the time of the word “San Isidro”, which is in fact should be its original title “San Isidro Festival” or just plain “San Isidro”.

2.  Historically and originally, the festival was ran by private individuals and organizations led by the Art Club of Lucban.  Events like singing contest, trade fair, basketball tournament and other cultural and civic activities are all planned, organized, funded and executed successfully by the people of Lucban without or with meager support from the local government of Lucban.  Have you read a single historical account about this part of the Pahiyas in the past?  No, because the government, who provides the history through the Lucban Historical Society is biased towards the government as they have contributed nothing to the development and popularity of the Pahiyas when it was just starting to grow.  So it is but logical (as it is also embarassing) not to mention this part of the Pahiyas history, now that the Pahiyas is so popular, and all the credit goes to the Pahiyas Executive Committee and the local government of Lucban but in reality, they contributed nothing or little to its development.

3.  In the past, what the local government do, is only to collate all the events by these different private organizations and consolidate them into one umbrella program for the Pahiyas Festival, making it appear that it is the government who do the organizing and planning but in reality it is not.  But as time passed by, these events are being copied and implemented by the local government of Lucban thus easing out the private organizers.  The next thing you know, the organizer is already out of the Pahiyas activities.  If you will notice at the recent events of the Pahiyas and a few years back – no private organization is involved in any activities related to the festival.

… to be continued