Jammed step

(Apologies to St. James whose words I quoted on February 14. They were not from St. Paul.)

The Jam Step project of Rep. Anthony Golez seems to have gotten stuck in a jam with Councilor Homer Bais churning the pot, demanding that the proceeds of the project go to the kids who joined the activity. Bais, however, did not specify what he wants – distribute,  or fund a project.

To clear the air, the congressman should reveal who funded the project, what was the income and expenses so we can make sense of Bais’ proposal. Rep. Golez has his own project so I think he should decide,  but there is merit in the Bais suggestion - that the fund generated should benefit the children.

There is an issue about whether the Department of Education approved this activity. DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro said in response to the inquiry by the Sangguniang Panlungsod that the local DepEd authorities have the autonomy to undertake the activity but that this must be voluntary. Golez also said the project was voluntary.

The reality, however is that it was not really voluntary. I asked one student whether this was voluntary and she said her teacher told them, ‘Indi mahimo nga indi magsaut. (It is not possible not to dance.)”  In a word, it was not voluntary as there was an element of coercion. Students and parents “cannot make it possible not to dance.” Who is the student who will defy?

Be that as it may, the students went. They were to assemble at 6 a.m. in their school even if they were a stone’s throw from the Bácolod airport. Students who normally used the trisikad had to walk because at 5:30 hardly can one find a ride. With the rain early in the morning, it was indeed difficult for both parents of elementary students especially because at 5:30 it was still dark. But the kids went (walked) anyway.

Students complained that while some got hot dogs with their bread for breakfast they got only hotdogs and water. It seems that the hotdogs had no bread or vice versa. This is a matter of administration.

The serious issue at hand is the number of participant in the Jam Step. The purpose of this mass gathering is to get into the Guinness Book of World Records which means that the accounting must be accurate and open to authentication. The Book will not accept one’s claim without question but must verify.

The organizers released a report that the total was 87,700 participants who danced for 30 minutes. Golez claimed that non-believers helped increase participation and that he prayed for the heavens for the rain to stop. By the time the Jam Step was to begin, the weather had cooperated.

Homer disputes the figures. He said that the total enrolment from Grade IV to High School was only 28,000 or so. Since the students reported to school for attendance check, the actual number can be determined from the teacher’s class record. There were students who did not come; some had dropped out. The actual number is verifiable.

Of course, Bais’ figures are only of public schools and there were private schools and professionals who joined, so the DepEd figures do not tell the whole story.

Golez made a swipe that some critics have suffered psychologically when they were children – he did not specify except that one should believe the children.

Golez cited 400 to 500 ROTC cadets as “clickers” who did the official count. How did they conduct the count? This is not to question their integrity but we must know how long it took the cadets to accurately count 87,700 people.

Now let’s go to the airport where the students danced. The runway according to the organizer is 1.8 kilometers long or 1,800 meters. I remember that the runway is 40 meters wide which makes the dance area 72,000 square meters. In an exercise of this nature, a person would stretch his arms both sides, which one can notice in the enlarged photos, so he occupies two meters. When a person extends his hands forward to get a space (or depth) of another at his front he will utilize about .8 meters.

Thus each dancer will occupy 1.6 square meters. If we put together 87,700 people then they will occupy 140,320 square meters. 

With the actual 72,000 square meters space, the number of dancers can be no more than 45,000. Add little more for the kids who occupied smaller space.

Both sides of the runway were used for parking and for space from the dancers to the cars leaving at most 30 meters width for the dancers. This explains why the photo shows the depth of the dancers (front to rear) was only 20 or less.

Thus the dance area is 54,000 square meters. Can 87,700 people dance in 54,000 square meters?*

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