Thursday, October 12, 2006 Seares: Misspelling Arroyo name By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
What happens when a newspaper misspells a person's name? The paper on its own or acting on a complaint corrects the error.
Sometimes the mistake stays uncorrected if no one notices and calls editors' attention. (In Sun.Star, complain to ErrorsDesk.)
Most people let misspellings go. It riles them---after all, one's name is important to its bearer. But few bother to demand a correction.
A recent Inquirer opinion column misspelled my name. It got chuckles from friends, jeers from non-friends.
Reaction is really turbulent if the error appears on 100-peso notes issued by the Republic---and the name misspelled is President Arroyo's.
Arrovo
Arroyo was written Arrovo on bank notes printed by Francois Charles Oberthur Fiduciare.
The French company can't just say tant pis (ton pee), "too bad." That won't do, especially with shrug of shoulders and pout of lips.
The Arrovo Oberthur is messing with is the Arroyo who has battled plots, impeachments, street protests, coups, natural disasters, and other adversities in a long series of unfortunate events.
So she would have just let it go?
Maybe Mrs. Arroyo would have, but not sycophants who shredded 77 million notes though Oberthur is paying only a fourth of error's cost in millions of pesos.
Misspelling didn't affect the notes' integrity. And years from now, bills that survive may even fetch collectors a fortune.
