Here’s feedback from a Filipino-American
balikbayan about a glaring misuse of English by one of the Metro Manila broadsheets:
October 20, 2011
Hi, Joe,
Here’s a headline of a news item on page 6 of Sunday’s (October 16, 2011) issue of the Philippine Star:
Gov’t allots P203 M to help typhoon hit farmers
What? The government is now in the business of helping typhoons hit farmers?
Imagine my knee-jerk reaction—a strong feeling of indignation toward our government for picking on the poor farmers—even dishing out millions of pesos “to help typhoons” cause untold sufferings on the heroes who tend our agricultural fields! I was ready to write my congressman. But then, I came to my senses and realized that, being a Fil-Am, I am only a guest here in the Philippines, and that my congressman is in Richmond, Virginia. So, I calmed down and proceeded to read the first paragraph of the story.
“At least P203 million has been allotted by the government to help farmers whose crops were destroyed by the recent typhoons, Malacañang said yesterday.”
Wow, what a relief! The farmers are okay, after all. At least, they won’t have to march and clog the Padre Faura street along with the PALEA and others. But, then again, I’m not really sure, because with the kind of politics we have in this country, anything goes! So, Joe, to be honest, I still worry about the farmers!
All the best,
Juanito T. Fuerte
My reply to Mr. Fuerte:The moral of the story here is, of course, that Philippine print media outlets shouldn’t ignore the hyphen and underestimate its semantic power. That way, their reporting wouldn’t sound shocking or even bizarre to Filipino
balikbayans accustomed to reading the more precise English-language reportage of their adopted countries.
See how the lowly hyphen strips the zany illogic of that headline and makes it sensible:
Gov’t allots P203 M to help typhoon-hit farmers
