The ostrich of La Consolacion

ONE cartoonist favorite when depicting the ostrich is to bear down on the tendency of this bird to bury its head in the sand in an effort to hide itself from its enemies, not quite realizing that the rest of its enormous physical constitution remains exposed out in the open.

Transpirations in the long-running controversy over the planned reclamation of a large tract of coastal land in La Consolacion, Cebu, for the establishment of a so-called Seafront City, call to mind this idiosyncrasy of the ostrich. When feeling cornered by an enemy, the bird will dig its head deep in the sand and become fully confident that it has been hidden. The case is not so, of course. The rest of the bird's monstrous body stays exposed.