In the names of the children…

What is the poor girl’s real name, the one by which she is known to her own family? Everytime an item comes out in the national media about the poor little girl from Caloocan City, who was killed by a stray bullet while celebrating the New Year, she is identified with a different one. Some call her “Nicole”, others call her “Stephanie”, and still others use both, and refer to her as Stephanie Nicole or Nicole Stephanie. Isn’t it strange that they can not settle down on one identity for the poor kid?

***

I think another culprit is the tendency of Filipino parents lately to load their children with so many names. Once I attended a piano recital of very young children, and noted that only two or three of them carried only ONE first name. The rest had at least two, some even as many as four or five, like Maria Anna Grace Therese, or Jean Marie Christine Mae, and the like. I notice, though, that this is more common with girls than with boys. I can just imagine what their parents were thinking when they picked these names. Didn’t they ever consider what a difficult time the child may have when learning how to write her name in school?

***

There are also parents who like to invent their own names, or change the spellings of traditional names to suit their own whims. A man named Kristofer (his parents like it spelled that way) said he always got annoyed when he had to give his name while applying for a job, getting licenses, or filling up forms, because clerks and office workers inevitably write it down as the usual “Christopher”. Just imagine the hassle the poor man may go through in case his name gets mangled in the records of a professional examination. He may need to go to court to make the correction.

***

So the first batch of Korean tourists has gotten in, no thanks to the country’s narrow-minded Immigration Commissioner. The unreasonableness of his refusal to help facilitate the travels of the group from Korea has aroused such indignation from our people that, I understand, several officials have tried to help out by seeing the concerned official. But, from what he has, so far, manifested, this fellow sounds as if he will dig in his heels further, just to spite us. Or maybe he wants to protect the interests of some other places? Somebody should delve into his politics.

***

Perhaps some readers had been wondering why we had focused so much on water refilling stations in a recent editorial. Indeed, we hope, and expect the city’s Permits and Licensing Division to bear down on those “colorum” ones, because they could really be very dangerous to the health of people. I speak from experience, because when our own regular source missed a delivery one day, our household staff settled on water from another supplier in our vicinity.

***

Some hours after, a family member complained of a bum stomach, but we didn’t connect it with anything, except maybe a lot of post-holiday gorging. Then two other members started experiencing the same symptoms, followed by two more, until our helpers also made the same complaints. When we all tried to analyze what we had been ingesting, it was noted that the only common substance was the water. We have not yet checked with the Permits office if this particular one is legit or not. But if there are others like it, then other people could be in danger, too.

***

My ears cocked when I saw a news item in one of the national dailies yesterday about an official in Albay who has been charged by the Ombudsman for irregularities in connection with the infamous fertilizer scam. Oho! So when will the Ombudsman’s office come around to other culprits who also took great advantage of the scandalous affair, and even allegedly committed other crimes like perjury in connection with its distribution? The stench of the fertilizer has continued to fill the air, despite the fact that those irregularities were committed two elections ago. Isn’t it high time that the grafters are fingered?

***

Two inaugurations. The world is watching the developments after the reelection of two world leaders who are due to be inaugurated in the next few days. In the United States, even showbiz people are preparing their numbers, as well as their gowns, for the re-inauguration of Barack Obama. In Venezuela, the people are wondering if they will get to inaugurate their recycled dictator who continues to stay in a hospital in Cuba after his latest operation for cancer. Their law reportedly has a provision that swearing-in should take place immediately, but President Hugo Chavez, who has the country’s Supreme Court eating out of his hand, has been granted by them the right to be sworn in any other time. See what the advantages of a dictatorship are?*

back to top