Are You Saying That...

Salbahe talaga ang Inquirer. Their headline today reads: "Surprise! 7.5% growth" And today, I realize even more why Inquirer is my favorite newspaper. It's not only because they have my favorite writer Conrado de Quiros but because they make reading the newspapers entertaining. In my forty years, I have realized that what gets communicated through media all depends on the "spin" that a certain story will take. Am sure GMA's head is spinning in anger as she reads the Inquirer today.

I caught the video footage yesterday on television when a reporter was asking GMA about the fantabulous economic results being reported. She responded by saying: "Are you saying that the NSCB people are liars?..." I personally got irritated right there and then and I thought that the remark was uncalled for. The reporter was asking a legitimate question and she did not deserve such an answer. The last time I looked, being in Malacanang does not give you the power to put words in other people's mouths.

Did we get the explanation? Well, in the newspapers today, the explanation is there. The evening newscasts only run for 30 minutes so right after that response, the video was cut. You could say that it was a bit unfair as people will now be focusing on what GMA said and will probably think that the answer never came but that is the risk that she took by coming up with that question rather than addressing the legitimate concern of the reporter (and probably numerous other Filipinos) directly.

Oh well. So what are we in fact saying? I will spell out what I want to say. We are saying that most people do not feel the 7.5% economic growth. We are saying that we need leaders who will think first before they open their mouths. We are saying that 2010 seems to be an awfully long time from today. What we didn't say was Hello Garci. =)

Is There No Parent at the DepEd?

As early as 5am this morning, my husband and I were already tuned in to AM radio. We were listening for any announcement about the suspension of classes in Metro Manila as it had been raining hard since 2am.

What we heard was some official from the DepEd or the Department of Education saying that he left it to the discretion of the parents and the schools on whether to suspend classes or not. The radio show host also repeatedly announced: "May pasok po." (There are classes today.)

While I am always looking out for the safety of my kids, I am also a parent who ensures that they do not miss a single day at school if it can be avoided. My son had his quarterly exams scheduled today so no amount of "discretion" on my part would have led me to stop him from going to school today.

So it was off to school for my 5-year old daughter and my 10-year old son, in the rain. Their school buses picked them up.

At 7am, now, the DepEd makes a late announcement that classes are suspended for grade school and high school. Text messages went back and forth in a flurry. My brother texted in reply to my text that classes had been suspended: "Great! Nasa katpunan flyover trfc jam na kami!" Another parent texted: "What a pity. My daughter is already in school." Upon arriving here at our house, my brother lamented: "Kanina pa akong umaga nagtatanong..." (I had been asking since this morning...)

Oh well. Can anyone tell us who will educate the DepEd? I don't know why the DepEd is so shy about suspending classes early enough when the rains are heavy (even when there is no typhoon signal) as all it takes is a little common sense. All they need is to ask themselves, "Would I feel safe letting my kids go to school in this rain?"

They ask themselves that important question and they can save us parents all this hassle and stress.