Under Section 41 of Republic Act No. 8491 dated Feb. 12, 1998, the national coat of arms of the Philippines was described without the images of the American bald eagle and the lion rampant of Spain.
These were deliberately deleted under Section 14 of the Administrative Code of 1987.
It is quite disturbing that a number of national government institutions still use the outdated coat of arms. These institutions, among others, are:
1) Department of Foreign Affairs — in newly issued Philippine passports.
2) Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas — in all the printed new banknotes issued recently.
3) National Printing Office — in its accountable forms requiring the inclusion of the official receipt, and in the masthead of the Official Gazette.
I hope these misalignments are immediately corrected as a sign of respect for the symbol of our country.
CLEMENTE L. SARTE III, clsarte3@yahoo.com