The sacred, the profane, and the profanity

Reading the sentiments of various netizens on the recent Wattah Wattah Festival reminded me of sociologist Émile Durkheim. In studying religion, Durkheim was among the first to distinguish between the “sacred” and the “profane.”

According to Durkheim, “sacred” pertains to those things that are extraordinary and imbued with special significance; thus, it is set apart from the ordinary. The “sacred,” may it be objects, concepts, rituals, practices, or traditions, are treated with reverence and awe. Meanwhile, the “profane” refers to the ordinary, the mundane—essentially, the everyday aspects of life that are not given any special meaning or significance.

Applying the concept of “sacred” in the context of the Wattah Wattah or the Basaan Festival, it is easy for us to recognize that indeed, this religious festivity is a sacred event since it commemorates the feast of St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of San Juan.

St. John the Baptist is a biblical figure known for paving the way for the coming of Jesus Christ through cleansing the people by baptizing them with water. Thus, during the Wattah Wattah Festival, the residents of San Juan commemorate their patron by splashing and dousing people with water, symbolizing the baptism and cleansing associated with St. John the Baptist.

While pegged as a joyous religious celebration, the Wattah Wattah Festival of 2024, however, faced several criticisms due to the alleged unruliness of some residents of San Juan who doused bystanders, passersby, and motorists with water, despite being informed of their intention of not wanting to partake with the festival.

Some of those who were drenched took their issues, concerns, and disgruntlement on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) claiming that they were damaged by the unruly acts of some San Juan residents—that since they were bombarded with water, they were unable to go to work. Others claimed that their gadgets and important documents were destroyed. Several video snippets of the event were also uploaded and circulated online which drew criticisms from various netizens, some even expressed their call to put an end to the Wattah Wattah Festival, claiming that the residents of San Juan seem to not know the essence of the celebration and only uses the fiesta as an excuse to play pranks against the innocent.

Customs such as the Wattah Wattah Festival play a crucial role in Philippine society, especially since we are a country known for celebrating festivals left and right—we hold fiestas in almost every town and province to commemorate the patron saint, ethnic traditions, and other important milestones of our locality. It has even come to the point that a town or province’s identity has become dependent on the festival that it celebrates.

Historically, fiestas in the Philippines are intertwined with their cultural, colonial, and religious roots. Upon the introduction of Catholicism to the Philippines by the Spanish colonizers, Christian teachings were integrated with the local traditions, leading to the establishment of fiestas centered around Catholic saints and religious events, such as the conduct of solemn masses and processions, in almost every town and province.

The Wattah Wattah Festival is an example of how far a celebration of a fiesta has evolved—from a modest community event, focusing on religious observance to the present water dousing tradition, which was originally conducted by the residents among themselves and their visitors to imitate the baptism conducted by their patron.

One may argue that there is already a loss in the passing of the “sacred” in this context. The historically religious significance attributed to a fiesta—that it is originally intended to celebrate the locale’s devotion to its patron saint through “sacred” activities, is already lost here. From being regarded as a “sacred” custom by the generations who lived decades or even centuries ago, the Wattah Wattah Festival had lost its sanctity and had transformed into something “profane”—a mere secular event popularly known to motorists as the “basaan” day in San Juan which should be avoided at all costs lest be bombarded with water from unknown sources.

While the prevailing sentiment online revolves around the netizens’ anger, frustration, and annoyance against the unruly residents of San Juan, there are a few who remain to have some ray of hope toward these unruly residents, arguing that perhaps they were just temporarily lost in the height of the merriment.

In the end, one can only hope that in the coming celebrations of the Wattah Wattah Festival, newly repented and “baptized” versions of these celebrants would come to surface—for fiestas such as the Wattah Wattah Festival should be a source of belongingness and connection, a means to strengthen our bonds as Filipinos, instead of becoming a source of conflict and division.

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Minami Iwayama, M.A., is a lawyer and an assistant professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.