‘Wattah, wattah’

I’ve lived in San Juan, Metro Manila, for almost 70 years and have seen how the water dousing has often created more heat than cooling relief.

My observation is that the practice has actually diminished. I still remember the water dousing happening in almost all parts of San Juan, even reaching the perimeters of the rich’s Greenhills subdivision, with water dousers lining up Wilson Street. Ortigas Avenue also had water dousers and people learned to avoid the G-liner buses on that day, the G-liners bringing commuters to Quiapo, Manila’s main hub.

Last week’s water dousing was more controlled, even officially sanctioned by the San Juan government, complete with fire trucks water-hosing willing revelers.

While the frequency of water dousing diminished, the barbarism did intensify through the years, mainly as coercion. Assailants would open vehicle doors, for example, to douse the riders. The worst were incidents where canal water—there were even rumors of toilet water—was used to “baptize” passers-by.

This year in particular, social media has been noisy with complaints of the water dousing damaging people’s electronic gadgets, including laptops, and of delivery riders’ packages—food and other stuff—getting soaked, with the drivers being held liable.

One Lalamove delivery man was so furious he filed a case, much publicized with no less than San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora appearing in photographs with the driver with assurances action would be taken. The San Juan Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office has also issued a call to the public to submit photos and videos of vandalism so action can be taken.

These responses seem to have irritated people even more, pointing out that social media has numerous photo and video posts showing the culprits. Public rage has been particularly vile when directed against someone now nicknamed “Boy Dila,” who would jut out his tongue like a serpent, as he assaulted his victims. He has since been identified as Chester or Lester, with rumors—wistful thinking it seems—that someone got back at him with muriatic acid.

Many of the social media posts have converted the hooliganism into a class war with accusations of “wattah, wattah, squattah, squattah,” mainly accusing informal settlers of the vandalism and speculating that the mayor had been lax with the water dousing as his way of coddling the informal settlers, especially with midterm elections due next year.

When you think about it though, the victims of the “wattah wattah” hooliganism have mainly been the poor all through these years. The upper classes could make their way around San Juan safely in their vehicles, which the vandals would not have dared to touch (and never mind their drivers who reported, for work-drenched victims were mainly office workers and public school students).

What are the prospects for the future?

Note that while St. John the Baptist is the patron saint for several cities and towns in the Philippines, only San Juan in Manila practices water dousing. For more than a decade now I’ve been a frequent visitor to San Juan, La Union, and I do not remember seeing water dousing, maybe because it is a surfing area, so water dousing has no attraction.

Many people, including residents of the city of Manila, are unaware that St. John the Baptist is also the patron saint of their city, mainly because the main religious activities are those associated with the Black Nazarene.

St. John the Baptist hasn’t been forgotten with Catholic rituals for him in the barangays of Manila. Last year, too, there were celebrations for the return of a statue of St. John from Tipas, Taguig, after a 40-year absence, with a well-participated dance procession through the streets by “karakolista.” No water dousing.

Looking at our neighbors, the Thais do have their Songkran or new year festivities in April, with rowdy water dousing and frayed tempers but from the news I’ve been following year to year, it seems the altercations usually involve foreign tourists, including a growing number of cases where both assailants and victims are foreigners.

Curiously, in 2023, during Songkran celebrations in Hong Kong, there were arrests made when the Thai festivity was converted into a political protest against the Chinese government—water guns aimed at the police and posts of the photos on the internet with what authorities called “malicious” quotes.

Back to my hometown San Juan. I feel the water dousing will disappear but we need tough and firm measures taken against the vandals and alternatives away from the water dousing. The plan to limit the water dousing to Pinaglabanan is also a mistake, that street being home to several public schools, which means another generation of San Juaeños will grow up seeing water dousing receiving official approval from the authorities.

End the “wattah wattah.” It’s also more ecologically friendly!

mtan@inquirer.com.ph