Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)

Makabayan solon Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel held nothing back as he fact and grammar-checked Vice President Sara Duterte's controversial book for children titled, "Isang Kaibigan (A Friend)". 

Manuel did so during the House Committee on Appropriations' deliberation on the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) proposed P2.037-billion budget for 2025. 

The main issue about the book has been whether or not it's publication price tag of P10 million--using public funds--is worth it. The book says that it is a "story by Inday Sara Duterte". 

Manuel began his interpellation of Vice President Duterte innocently enough by asking who the book's editor was. 

When the lady official refused to give a direct answer--as she practically did to all congressmen during the budget hearing--Manuel proceeded to figuratively tear the book apart. 

"The book contains many errors, sige po ipakita po natin (OK let's show them)," the youth solon said. 

"This book, Madam Chair, will just contribute to the worsening of the learning crisis,” Manuel added in an obvious jab at the Vice President's recent tenure as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary. 

The supposed errors ranged from factual or detail-based to grammatical. For instance, the book referred to a "banahaw" plant as having leaves. 

"Wala naman pong dahon ng banahaw. Baka po anahaw yung tinutukoy (There's no such thing as leaf of a banahaw. Maybe it's supposed to be anahaw,” Manuel said. 

"Nakalagay din yung pugad daw ng kuwago ay nakapatong sa sanga. Madam Chair, ang sabi ng mga eksperto, ang owl's nest, hindi po yan nakapatong sa sanga. Nasa either butas po yan ng puno or nasa ilalim ng lupa," remarked the solon, who is a summa cum laude graduate. 

(The book also says that the owls nest is on top of a branch. Madam Chair, according to experts, an owl's nest isn't found on branches. It's found either inside a hole of the tree trunk or underground.) 

As for grammatical errors, Manuel called out the missing hyphen in "walang awa". 

He also said that "sina" should have been used instead of "sila" in the particular sentence: “Siya’s sagana sa pagkain at kaibigan, at ang kanyang tahanan ay laging bukas para sa masasayang salu-salo kasama sila Uwak, Tikling, Kalapati, Loro at marami pang ibang ibon.” 

'Not child-friendly' 

For Manuel, Isang Kaibigan simply isn't child-friendly. 

"Nag-iimpose po siya ng kung paano dapat umasta ang isang kaibigan but, Madam Chair, for a children's book, dapat hindi siya nag-iimpose ng anumang bagay sa bata. It should be fun," Manuel told presiding officer Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo. 

(It imposes about how a friend should act but, Madam Chair, for a children's book, it shouldn't impose anything on children. It should be fun.) 

The Makabayan solon also panned the shoddy production values of the book. 

"Pag children’s book Madam Chair, hindi lang yung text ang mahalaga, pati yung visuals...So, yung illustrations hindi cohesive, parang yung elements ipinatong lang sa background. 

(In children's books, Madam Chair, not only the text is important, but also the visual...So, the illustrations aren't cohesive, it looks like the elements were just pasted on the background.) 

"Low value ito for illustrations kasi Madam Chair, kahit nga yung pangalan ng illustrators ay maliit compared sa pangalan ng author," Manuel said in another shot at the Vice President. 

(This is low value for illustrations because Madam Chair, even the names of the illustrators are small compared to the name of the author.) 

In response, Vice President Duterte simply said, “The name of the editor of the book is Rauol Manuel. It’s a joke, ma'am, you strike it out off the record if you want.”