Friday, February 01, 2008 Covington: Saturday gems By Gary Covington
IS IT that the news is more whack-worthy some days or is it that I sometimes overdo shaking cynicism on my breakfast cornflakes? I don't know but Saturday was a corker.
"Pinay gets Guinness plaque for largest flag." Filipinos love a record don't they? Longest banana cue cookout. Most huge kiss.
Grace Galindez-Gupana received her plaque -together with a bunch of volunteer needle persons - for stitching together the world's biggest flag which cost an estimated US$500,000 - half a million US dollars.
Which is to my way of thinking what Mrs. Galindez-Gupana's plaque cost - half a million dollars. And sad to say, the good lady's glory lasted only a month when along came another bunch of needle persons who'd stitched together an even larger flag.
What a colossal waste of money, half a million dollars. Yes, I know I keep mentioning the amount, but half a mil equals around P25,000,000. How many countryside classrooms might be constructed for that sort of cash? How many medical missions financed? How many school desks or textbooks purchased?
Also on Saturday was an example of what is known as a self-serving survey. Blared a headline, "There was cheating on 2004 polls."
This bang up to date the nugget of information and I bet you're gasping with astonishment, calling for the smelling salts? Calculated by Pulse Asia after polling 600 Mindanao folk, the survey's sponsors -- some non-partisan group seeking the truth. Well, actually, no. The survey was commissioned by the Genuine Opposition. See. Self-serving.
Computer games and Internet cafes? How to keep kids in school and out of cafes has generated quite a few column inches of late and I'd say it was a case of trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. The issue hasn't snuck up on us has it?
I'd also say the problem was virtually insoluble. Schools operate on a shift system? How does an internet caf‚ determine if a student is cutting classes or not? It's no good asking and uniforms can be changed for civvies anytime.
Ban computer games? Out of the question. Introduce an age barrier?
Nobody under, say, the age of fifteen gets through the caf‚ door? How do you determine age? ID cards here we come. Definitely a three-pipe problem Watson and one that should keep our honorables amused for quite some time.
Television now and I loved the juxtaposition of reportage on the other day's early evening news.
Here was a crowd up to their knees in mud planting mangrove cuttings on the foreshore. Doing their bit for the environment. The next report was about a construction project not a million miles from the mangrove planting where wholesale foreshore modification is going ahead at full speed utilizing heavy earthmoving equipment.
"Foreshore area is considered inalienable land of public domain unless proclaimed otherwise by the President of the Philippines."
Yeah.
