MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Congressman Raoul Manuel, the Kabataan Partylist representative, flexed his credentials at a recent Congressional hearing, saying “Summa Cum Laude po ako” (I am a Summa Cum Laude).

Manuel is a graduate of the University of the Philippines and is the first ever Summa Cum Laude in the Visayas campus. (U.P. now has the reputation of handing out lots of Latin honors to its graduates as if they were dole outs in an evacuation center.)

But then Manuel may have been absent from history class (perhaps leading a protest rally somewhere), when the Philippine claim to Sabah (Malaysia) was discussed.

We have the video where Manuel repeatedly referred to the disputed territory as “sabá” (banana/plantain).