Well, even tickets have shortages too.
People had been eagerly awaiting for Cosplay Mania 2022, which is Cosplay.PH’s flagship and biggest event, and with good reason: This is the first Cosplay Mania held after a two-year pandemic pause.
It was expected that because of the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, CPH (for Cosplay.PH) had to limit their ticket selling because of capacity regulations, which is probably amenable to everyone. But apparently, tickets for Cosplay Mania turned out to be more limited than people thought.
Over the past few weeks and months since ticket selling was announced over at SM Tickets, people on social media had been ranting over the all-of-a-sudden and very rare sellout of CosMania tickets with months before the event. And with only pre-sold tickets the only way to get in the convention, obviously, those who want to buy tickets had raised consternation and disappointment.
But what led to this very rare phenomenon of Cosplay Mania’s tickets getting sold out that instant? Was it because we had so many anime fans raring to go to a big convention? Or is it because of the pervasive problem that hounds online ticket sales, which is scalping?
In any case, I will give my two cents (or dos sentimos) in this issue in the most balanced way possible.
Baffling
Just think, the ongoing issue of ticket shortage for CosMania joins them in elite company, as we are being bombarded with the ongoing news of shortages of agricultural products like sugar, onions, garlic, and even salt. But the shortage of tickets in CosMania, while very much different from the current shortage that we are seeing now, is nonetheless the same in terms of dismay level among eventgoers who want to experience the country’s biggest Cosplay-centric event.
To be honest, this is the first time that a pop culture event such as Cosplay Mania sells out their tickets in as fast as only three days after ticket selling opened. And to me, it is just baffling that an event such as CosMania also enters into elite company as K-pop concerts or even local or foreign acts.
Granted, there will be some who will say that the high demand was because of pandemic bottling up anime fans in their homes and waiting for the next big event to happen, but I don’t think this warranted something that could possibly make an event sell out that quick, no?
The big reason why CPH limited the sale of its tickets is because of two things: The ongoing pandemic and restrictions by the local government of Pasay, and we will dissect them both and argue that this is not the case for CPH to limit ticket selling.
The Pandemic
Sure, we are still in the Covid-19 pandemic, and hell, I still report about it everyday in the news, but one thing that differed from 2021 to 2022 is this: We are now starting to live with the virus.
Metro Manila is still under Alert Level 1, and we have been under Alert Level 1 since March this year, and even an increase in Covid-19 cases did not stop multiple pop culture events from happening during the time we are in Alert Level 1 (Toycon and ConQuest comes to mind), and with more lenient ticket selling policies than Cosplay Mania.
Now, we are experiencing another decline in Covid-19 cases, albeit on a slow decline (the NCR is now experiencing a plateau, according to the DoH), but I guess for the foreseeable future, and as long as we take 1. our primary series, 2. our first booster for everyone, and 3. the second booster for eligible groups, and maintaining our strict adherence to health protocols such as masking (yes, masks are still on, until possibly the end of the year or unless we have a stronger wall of immunity) in the absence of physical distancing, then we could see another decline in the number of Covid-19 cases.
And this gives us more reason to possibly believe that Cosplay Mania should not be scared of holding a big event head on even as the pandemic continues to rage. I think it is high time to CPH to remove the cap on ticket selling and reopen it. If CPH still wants caps due to the pandemic, they can possibly close it two days before the event.
Remember, not everyone will be staying at the SMX at the course of the event, so I guess it would be more prudent to open up more slots EVEN IF for until two days before the event.
LGU Restrictions
Now, the second reason CPH controlled the ticket sales is because of the restrictions imposed by the Local Government Unit, which, in this case, is the City of Pasay.
I mean, I understand that local governments are “autonomous” when it comes to the imposition of rules and regulations in their cities, but I have not yet seen any city impose any limits that are not in line with the current Alert Level 1 restrictions imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
In fact, on June 4, the IATF actually allowed 100 percent full capacity in all establishments and activities, subject to the presentation of vaccination cards in these areas. So I don’t see any reason why the LGU should have directives that are very much different from what the National Government is enforcing.
This reminded me of the latest fracas regarding another attempt at lifting the mask mandate, after Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama issued an Executive Order making masking “non obligatory”. Health officer-in-charge Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the DoH was not “consulted” on his order to make it non-obligatory.
It is baffling to think that an event that normally does not sell out its tickets sells out a few months before it is going to be held, and the complexities of limiting ticket sales due to the pandemic adds to my amazement and bewilderment.
Rama made a big deal of the comment and felt that he was offended by it, saying that the DoH has no power to consult the local government, owing to their autonomy in the Local Government Code.
Vergeire then apologized to Rama for any possible misunderstanding regarding her comments, but she reiterated that all cities must follow a “single national policy” especially in terms of public health.
“We are not looking at one area of the country, but are looking for all areas of the country and what the implications would be,” she had said in a briefing.
So in short, I do not see the reason why Pasay LGU had to separate its own rules and regulations when it comes to enforcing capacity restrictions when the national government has implemented its regulations as such. I have not even seen any order or memorandum coming from Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano regarding possible restrictions regarding events in her city, unless it is only circulated internally.
I do hope that the Pasay City LGU would clarify its rules and regulations regarding capacity limitations on events, so that it won’t be used as a scapegoat by events such as Cosplay Mania when tickets suddenly sell out.
Scalper Mania
Now that tickets have officially sold out (as per the CPH social media pages), it is expected that there will be some scalpers that will use the artificially-created demand to spruik up ticket prices aside from the published ticket rates.
Even the upgrade to Gold or VIP ticket tiers did not work as well, both tiers had sold out and even those who had Silver tickets can’t even upgrade to the two tiers. Take note: CosMania has yet to complete its full lineup of guests, which includes virtual Youtubers as its JAM or Japanese Anime Music artists.
It is baffling to think that an event that normally does not sell out its tickets sells out a few months before it is going to be held, and the complexities of limiting ticket sales due to the pandemic adds to my amazement and bewilderment.
Sure, we can blame Covid-19 all we want, but again, like I said, if we have to move on from the virus, we have to live with the virus, and it means that we should live again how we lived before the pandemic happened, but with more caution and more understanding of how the virus acts.
Yes, I am writing this not because I have not yet gotten my tickets for Cosplay Mania, but I am not writing this all because I am sore that I was not able to buy it. I am writing this because thousands have been disenfranchised by the sheer fact that Cosplay Mania was supposed to be their big convention meetup, and that scalpers scuttled all their plans.
For all intents and purposes, this is a shortage unlike any other, and CPH should deal with this immediately.
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