"Something like this" was the birthday party of one Tim Yap and as the video in the link above shows, it was one where perhaps after a couple of white wines, party-goers started throwing caution to the wind and partying like it was 2019.
Biking side by side with JP a few weeks ago, sadly during the funeral of a departed friend, we had a conversation about his position on tourism. Among the many things I got from our chat was this: these days, with the myriad requirements tourists have to hurdle from actually getting tested for the virus to needing to have a private vehicle since public inter-regional transportation services aren't fully back in operation yet, only the rich could afford to go on vacations. To visit Baguio, they need to have tested negative for the virus, booked in an accredited hotel (most of the accredited hotels are on the high end, although this has since been expanded to include homestays and transient houses), declare their itinerary and strictly stick to it, etc. It's the rich who could afford to strictly follow restrictions and other protocols to keep themselves Covid-free.
I saw, and still see the point, actually. Generally, I agree that wherever it is safe to do so, various industries must be allowed to operate, as long as public safety is ensured. I just don't think tourism is one of those that are safe to bring back at the moment. Knowing the kind of tourism infrastructure, and by that I mean both facilities and systems, that Baguio has, there's the rub: public safety cannot be ensured. And I'm a firm believer in the concept that individuals may be smart, but crowds are or could get stupid.
Being both a theater artist and producer, while I dream of and hope for our industry's re-opening, I have learned to accept the fact that the very nature of the industry I belong to makes its return to pre-Covid circumstances impossible at the moment.
I can attempt to stage a production safely:
1. Choose a material that minimizes intimate physical contact between actors so that physical contact between actors are minimized during rehearsals and performances. But, as a producer, can I guarantee that actors would strictly maintain a safe physical distance from each other for the entire 4-5 hours per day for around 30-45 days during rehearsals? I can't.
2. Unless the material calls for face masks all throughout as costumes, it would be impossible to stage a play with actors hidden behind face masks. So as a director, I could ensure that I block the actors with at least 3 meters between them. Having no face masks on would already increase the risk of transmission, but keep actors three meters apart would still be accordance with social distancing protocols. Can I guarantee that the actors would not get carried away during performances and perhaps get a bit too close with a fellow actor on stage? I can't.
3. Have everyone tested at regular intervals during the entire production process. Could a typical theater production afford to do this? Even an antigen test, cheaper and faster than the more reliable RT-PCR test, costs anywhere from 800-1,300. Even an intimate play with say 5 actors, a director, a stage manager, an assistant stage manager, a production manager, a stage hand, a make-up artist, a set and costume designer, a lighting designer add to that ushers during the show itself, would mean testing around 15 people at least thrice during the entire production process. So no, I can't.
4. Have the audience sit at least 3 to 4 seats apart. This would add a level of safety, but would significantly reduce a production's revenue potential. Also, make sure everyone in the audience is wearing a face mask and shield at all times. Sponsors are hard to come by these days when everybody's just trying to get by and survive and keep their heads above water in this pandemic, so a theater production could only survive with revenues from gate receipts. Reducing that revenue potential by 60-70% (although IATF rules allow for 50% capacity, being only one seat apart isn't safe if your in the same enclosed venue for an hour or two straight) dooms a production. So, again, no, an actual live production right now is not financially viable.
And because I cannot guarantee both the artists' and the audience's safety, and if I did all that needs to be done to ensure that, the production would then not be financially viable - not to mention the effects that all the restrictions and protocols would have on the artwork itself. And with that, no, I can't and won't stage a play at this point.
In the meantime, I do have other options as a performing artist mainly involving using the internet as my stage. It's not the same, but things aren't the same as before right now, so I, along with many others like me, would just have to bite the bullet because what we're risking here is nothing less than human lives.
Back to tourism, and the lack of infrastructure to properly enforce health and safety protocols.
Tourism bigwigs have been pushing for it since Baguio went from being under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to first General then to Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), and have actually succeeded in opening Baguio to tourists. In the first few weeks of opening up, residents have already been pointing out how many visitors could be seen around the city flouting Baguio's health protocols, not to mention, at times, basic human decency. Even before the official opening up of Baguio to tourists, I was actually surprised to see tourist gift shops opening up in Mines View and a trickle of who I assume were tourists shopping. I may be wrong about my assumption but it is really rare to see a local walking around carrying three Baguio brooms and a bag of jars of peanut brittle.
And while movement of our own toddlers and senior citizens remained limited, groups of tourists could be seen in parks, malls, restaurants that include small children, even infants and seniors.
We see and hear of large gatherings at posh establishments like Alphaland, The Manor and the Baguio Country Club, gatherings that we, locals, have been or are being told over and over again are not allowed, or at least must still be avoided.
We are coming from the recent staging of the Ibagiw Creative Festival which not only showed that events that encourage mass gatherings could result in risky behaviors as seen in social media uploads by attendees that showed how safety protocols were being strictly observed but only in the first hour or two of the opening and closing ceremonies. A few glasses of wine and beer later, we saw how many of the attendees began letting their guards down posing for photos with neither face masks nor face shields. National Artist Kidlat Tahimik, along with his wife Katrin de Guia, would eventually test positive for Covid-19 with the filmmaker admitting in a statement that he may have been careless at the various Ibagiw-related events he attended, taking of his mask too often to oblige fans asking to be photographed with him.
"Tao lang po..." the Mayor said in an interview on the Tim Yap birthday bash after a photo of himself, the celebrant (no mask) and his wife (no mask) circulated online.
Exactly.
Even the smartest and the most well-meaning individuals can get careless when in circumstances that allow, even encourage such carelessness.
I often have to check myself when in the company of friends, as rare as such occasions present themselves these days - I do find myself relaxing at times pulling my mask down to take a sip from a cup of coffee and forgetting to put it back. My mantra right now when I'm in public places is - "you're not supposed to be too comfortable." If I'm not feeling a bit of difficulty breathing or discomfort from a fogged-up face shield or eyeglasses, then there's something I'm missing, that there's something that I'm supposed to be doing that I am not.
If chance encounters with friends on the road, in cafes, at the park make us relax or even get a bit careless, what more large gatherings where food and alcohol is served? Tim Yap and his apologists have been saying, to justify their reckless behavior: everyone tested negative for the virus. I assume those tests were done in Manila prior to their trip coming up as that's what's required of tourists entering the city - they were not tested again after making the long drive from Manila to Baguio (did they stop at gas stations at the expressway for coffee, lunch or dinner?); after going around the city prior to the scheduled events in Yap's extended birthday celebration; after the group's visit at Ililikha where they roamed around for a couple of hours; and after visiting the Interlink exhibit at the Baguio Convention Center. These are just some of the stops in their group itinerary that I know of.
As with the performing arts, so with tourism - there are things we can and cannot do at this time, and common sense dictates that tourism efforts that attract or allow a huge a number of people to gather, particularly indoors, is reckless and risky.
And JP, along with other outdoor enthusiasts, have been pushing for safer outdoor adventure tourism initiatives which apparently have largely been ignored. I find this odd since the Mayor himself is an outdoorsman, leading local cyclists every Sunday on group rides around the city. In the same way that it was odd some months back when Baguio was slowly easing restrictions and enclosed spaces such as malls were allowed to re-open, yet security guards and policemen were shooing people away and disallowing pedestrians from sitting on park benches at public parks - wide open outdoor spaces where the risk of transmission is much lower.
There are ways the tourism sector can stimulate economic activity without endangering the welfare, indeed, the lives, of the greater majority. They're hurting, we know, just like the rest of us. Schools are seeing record low enrollment numbers (they're limited to online classes). Transport sector's barely surviving (limited capacity for jeepneys, reduced days of operation). It's been slim pickings for the city's artists and cultural workers (especially as long as mass gatherings are prohibited). Meanwhile, our hospitals are beyond full capacity and our health workers are being stretched too thin as cases continue to rise.
Everyone is hurting, and is doing what they can to get by, again, AGAIN, without endangering the welfare of the majority. Why should the tourism sector be given way more slack than the rest of us?
In a couple of days, Baguio and the rest of the region, will once again be placed under General Community Quarantine protocols. That means a step backward in mobility, in economic activity, in everyone's financial, emotional and mental well-being, in our journey towards a return to even just a semblance of normalcy.
Spoiling tourism, particularly the kind that Tim Yap and his enablers espouse, spoils it for the rest of us.
