EDITORIAL - Childish argument

It is bad enough that errors have been found in the new set of peso bills destined for public circulation, it is worse when the president tries to defend the errors with a childish argument.

The errors involve the exclusion of Batanes from a Philippine map on the peso bills and the misplacement of the Tubbataha reefs by what experts determined would be no less than hundreds of kilometers.

Another error was the depiction of a rare blue-naped parrot as having a yellow beak when, according to experts, no such bird exists anywhere in the Philippines. What the country has is a blue-naped parrot with a red beak.

Actually, these errors could have been easily explained matter of factly, along with a promise to investigate and perhaps sanction those responsible for the mistakes. But President Aquino had to take the issue to a different level, way below the periscope of common sense.

In a statement that is as shocking as it is ridiculous, Aquino said he would use a real map or the GPS (Global Positioning System) and not the new peso bills if he were to search for a place in the Philippines.

Wow! And to think that is the president of the Philippines talking. The issue here is not about an actual travel or an attempt to locate a particular location. The issue is about errors on something as official and permanent as legal tender.

Of course nobody would travel or try to locate some place using a map on a peso bill that is no bigger than the palm of the hand. For Aquino to grasp the problem in such a manner suggests how far far away he is from the reality of his situation.

Errors and official mistakes are fast becoming the hallmark of this Aquino administration but what makes things even worse is that Aquino sees no problem in this. Without knowing what the problem is, there can be no solution. So heaven help the Philippines.