MANILA, Philippines?Education Secretary Jesli Lapus Wednesday urged ?sick books? crusader Antonio Calipjo Go to sit down with authors and publishers he had crossed and said his latest critique included lines of ungrammatical ?poetry? taken out of context.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Lapus said he appreciated what Go, academic supervisor of the Marian School of Quezon City, was doing.

?We are open to this but I think Mr. Go should sit down with the authors and the publisher of these books and look at each of these so-called errors,? Lapus said.

He said that the Department of Education (DepEd) was trying its best to improve the procurement and vetting process of school textbooks to make it ?airtight? and that this had already reduced the cost of books by half compared to a decade ago.

Talk to authors, not media

?When something like this crops up, we always tell Mr. Go that rather than we read it in the papers first?and then it?s like that?s the end of it, he already scored?if you really want to help, talk to the author,? Lapus said.

?Some of (the alleged errors) are poetry so it?s not grammatical. It?s always misleading if you only use one line or a few phrases,? he added.

?It?s like you write a book and then you use my own writings as part of your book to prove a point and then you mix up what you pick up from me. That does not give the complete sense,? Lapus said.

The 57-year-old Go has said he is willing to sit down with DepEd officials and the authors he has criticized if independent and credible observers will also be invited.

In a critique published in the Inquirer on Monday, Go scored Grade 6 textbook ?English for You and Me? written by Elodie A. Cada for being fraught with errors. The book is the latest in a series of updates under a multimillion dollar loan from the World Bank.

Literary pieces

Instructional Materials Council Secretariat director Socorro Pilor said in a statement that some of the errors Go cited were actually passages from literary pieces ?which, when isolated from the context, would appear erroneous.?

Pilor added that some of the passages were also part of the textbook?s ?activity or exercise? sections.

Citing Go?s example ?She lives in a place that is drowned in mystery,? Pilor said the actual passage in the book read: ?Her grandmother lives in the town famous for the Pahiyas festival. But what is more important is that she lives in a place that, to Celine, is drowned in mystery.?

Pilor said this was lifted from a literary work titled Sweet Aurora.

Another passage that Go criticized was ?I got a butterfly with flower-designed wings.?

Pilor said the actual passage, which was also lifted from Sweet Aurora, read: ??Gem, what souvenir did you take from lola?s place? I had a dragonfly with a body like jewels and wings like lace,? said Cindy. ?I got a butterfly with flower designed wings.??

Another example Go cited was: ?People are active individuals. Sometimes, even while sleeping. They make actions through dreams.? Pilor said the actual passage was lifted from ?Dreams for All by Debbie Ann Tan,? that read: ?People are active individuals. Day in and day out, their lives are full of spontaneous activities. They make actions through what we call ?dreams.??

?Humans may turn blue?

Pilor said the item ?Humans may turn blue when they cry? was part of an exercise section in the book that read: ?Analyze and classify each as plants or humans (with the following possible answers) 4. They carry their babies when the babies cry. 5. They may turn blue when they cry.?

She said that, since 2005, the submissions of publishers have undergone a stringent content evaluation in four areas: completeness of learning competencies, accuracy and pedagogical soundness, appropriateness of the material to the target users and language and book design.

?Eight evaluators from both public and private sectors are tasked to scrutinize each title. The stringent evaluation process resulted in a very low percentage of approval. In at least six (submissions), none of the submitted textbooks passed content evaluation,? Pilor said.

?We?ve done what we thought would be airtight for evaluation. In these four different areas, each has two evaluators and with their credentials, our credentials would pale in comparison,? Lapus said.

Institutional imprimatur

The submissions would also have to go through an editorial board from Ateneo de Manila University.

?In addition to individual experts, at the end they have to get the institutional imprimatur. And so the name of Ateneo is at stake here. I don?t know what can still be done,? Lapus said.

He said the first time Go approached DepEd it was about a private school textbook which is ?not subject to DepEd evaluation.?

?The book experts are saying you can put any book in the bookstore and someone would still find mistakes there in style or usage of words. So (it?s) relative. And then it will boil down to what you, the author, wanted to convey. And in the end, it will boil down to your credentials,? Lapus said.

?Credentials are no good?

?Because I can tell you ?Your credentials are no good. You?re not an educator.? That is why they are questioning Mr. Go asking ?What book has he written?? And why is he an expert for the whole country. It?s like he?s a pontiff,?? he added.

Lapus said the issue of error-filled school textbooks only became a big issue when the private sector got involved in the design and printing of these books.

He said there were cases where books were not released to students because the wrangling between the losing and winning bidders reached all the way to the Supreme Court, with the losing bidder claiming that the books were filled with errors.

There?s enough for everybody

?It became a private business and the losers were going after the winners. (There?s) sourgraping but there?s enough for everybody,? Lapus said.

He added that DepEd had also unbundled the selection process of the manuscripts and the bidding for the printing and delivery.

?The observation of people here in DepEd is that when (printing) was privatized, this (issue of error-filled textbooks) became an issue, but the bottom line is that the textbooks are costing 50 percent less compared to 1998 and the quality of the paper is higher,? Lapus said.

?In other words, if you look at the bottom line, the strength can be seen in the price and the quality. Now we?re focusing on that and we?re very strict with 70 to 80 percent (of the submissions) disapproved. We are doing our work,? he added.