The wrong I didn't commit

"Customs shakeup starts," says the Phil Star banner. The shakedown is over?

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A reader who gave his name only as Kelly of Talisay called up to correct my "error." I was wrong, he said, when I wrote here that "Manuel Quezon was the first president of the Philippine republic."

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Mr. Kelly, Sir, I did not write anything about this matter in the 40 years that I've been running this humble column. This is not the first time that a reader has corrected me for a wrong I have not committed. Sir Kelly, this is not the only newspaper column in this town. But if you think it is, OK lang. Hehe.

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A bill has been filed in the House of Representative which seeks to criminalize the hoarding of Phl coins. This bill, if it becomes a law, will discourage kids from saving coins in their alkansiya or piggy bank which is being encouraged by the government.

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Congratulations to the Cebu Breakfast Club on its 35th anniversary on Sept. 11, 2013. The club, currently headed by a very good friend of mine lawyer George P. Bragat, has outlived many of its founding members. CBC was a group to reckon with during the dark days of Martial Law when it continued to pursue its advocacy of free speech.

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A listener of my good friend and media colleague Manny de los Santos Rabacal's CCTN program said it was wrong for news writers to call the steel shipping container a van. "It is known only as container, not container van," he said.

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He's right, Manny. Because a van is supposed to have wheels and the shipping container has no wheel. I wrote about this matter here before. I had been a Far East correspondent for the "Container News" magazine of the US for five years and I had never read about a "container van" in the said magazine.

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OVERHEARD. Iglesia ni Cristo devotees flocked to the SRP in droves last Friday, July 26, 2013. An Iglesia member said to a non-Iglesia neighbor: "Sus, grabeng daghana namo oy, di gud kahugan og dagum ang akong gibarugan." Replied her neighbor: "Kay ngano man sad nga adto gyud didto nimo ihug ang dagum."