The current buzzword that hounds the Arroyo administration after the so-called Garci tapes popped out of nowhere has it its own version in Bohol 's vibrant newspaper industry. What else but we are referring to the legitimacy question that keeps on rearing its ugly head everytime President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stay in office is being discussed.

Our beef on legitimacy concerns the revival of a local newspaper called Bohol Standard which incidentally has its own duplicate that thrives in the market for more than one year already. For the uninitiated, let it be known that the old Standard is owned by lawyer Alexander Lim while its namesake is owned by his cousin Tony Herrera. Except that it confused the reading public as to which is which, the presence of two Standards in circulation brought to bear the issue of legitimacy.

There's no question that Lim's Standard is superior in content. But tell that to Herrera's boys and it will surely trigger blatant brickbats on their part that theirs is also a cut above the other. But that is not the main concern in settling the issue as to who earns the right to claim the Standard name.

This is where Herrera and his cohorts have the upper hand. The main reason why it decided to stage a comeback bid is because they own the franchise of the Standard name. This may explain why all this time, Lim's Standard refused to get an accreditation from the courts to publish extra judicial notices because of the question in using the Standard name. To buttress his rightful claim to the name, Herrera is waving an accreditation for the Bohol Standard name from the Department of Industry (DTI).

Another kingsize headache of Lim's Standard is the possibility of Herrera and his boys questioning every step of the way whenever a bidding for publications is up for grabs courtesy of local government units. For sure, this question will crop up especially if the concerned government agency will learn that there are two Standards in circulation. Unless, the two owners of the Standard name will settle their differences, there is no way that it will not create a monumental confusion to the prejudice of both.