By any other name
WILL things change for the better; will Filipinos suddenly become lawabiding, honest, patriotic, and God-fearing if this country were called by any other name? Will an indigenous-sounding name, a contrived touristic branding, redound to zero vote-buying and a more enlightened electorate? If malevolently colonial traces of Philip II are totally erased by a new name, will there be retribution for land-grabbing of ancestral abodes and the conversion of ricefields into malls and subdivisions?
If we remove “Philippines” from passports, currency, official documents, and personal stationary, will we no longer be discriminated upon in foreign lands? Will unbridle exploitation of our natural resources end and be penalized? Will that single act uplift the lives of farmers; protect our municipal waters and maritime economic zones from predators? Will chronic poverty be a thing of the past with a change of name? A clutter of influential politicians believes that the answer is a resounding yes. They think it is all a matter of geomancy, of fengshui, that problems will solve themselves after which things will fall into their proper place and there will be progress and harmony.
Even the sitting President has taken to advocating a change in name, from Philippines to Maharlika; he has a novel definition for that pre-colonial word. He said Maharlika means “serenity”; could President Duterte be referring to a royal title like “His Serene Highness”? Yet, our most eminent historians have already said Maharlika does not refer to any noble or aristocratic rank, as we have been led to believe. The true meaning which is free man (free person) was lost in a translation by Blair & Robertson.
Let us not allow politicians (with ulterior motives) to confuse us; instead, let us ponder on the sage words of a fellow Filipino whose autobiography is entwined with that of the country’s. Allow me to share the statement of Dr. Benito Legarda, Jr., economist and historian, with regard to changing the name of our country. He is proud to be called Filipino:
“President Duterte has resurrected Dictator Marcos’idea of changing the country’s name to Maharlika, in honor of a supposed guerrilla group that turned out to be unauthorized or perhaps even non-existent. Cebunao speakers at that time derided the proposed name, saying it should be ‘Ma-adluk ka’ (Be afraid).
“Now a party-list group is saying it is more important to address corruption than to tinker with the country’s name. There are some, however, who feel that the country’s name is rooted in colonialism, being named for Philip II of Spain, and should be changed.
“My take on this is that we as a people have, so to speak, run with the ball and made of it something more expansive and more “our own” than its now distant origin.
“Filipino now stands for many things.
“Filipino means repulsing Chinese invaders like the pirate Limahong, avenging the Dutch massacre of Abucay in 1647, fighting the British to a standstill in 1762 under forces led by men with names like Manalastas and Tuason.
“It means the first anti-colonial martyr, Dr. Jose Rizal.
“It means the first anti-colonial revolution in Asia (which was also the last Latin American revolution).
“It means the first democratic constitution in Asia, the Malolos Constitution, and the first democratic republic of Asia.
“It means the valiant stand made in Bataan in 1942, by mostly Filipino troops when all other Allied strongholds were falling around them. It means the only country in SE Asia that fiercely resisted the Japanese invaders and mounted a widespread guerrilla movement.
“It means toppling a dictatorship peacefully and bloodlessly, showing the way to the rest of the world, earning the awe and respect of the whole world.
“It means providing the choirs and congregations for the half-empty churches of post-Christian Western Europe.
“It means, in a male-dominated world, projecting women as icons, like Cory Aquino for democracy and Cecile Licad for music.
“We have marched our way through history with heads held high as Filipinos and given that name dignity and stature. Let us keep it that way — Proud to be Filipino.”
Some Filipinos want to change our flag; others insist that we need a new national anthem. If some politicians had their way, we would waste precious time squabbling over a new constitution or a different form of government after every national election. Names of historic streets, parks and plazas, provinces, cities and towns have too often been changed – for what?
Ironically, the only constant in our national history is the Filipino’s unwillingness to change. How we dread that inner purification, that personal cleansing, even if we all know that that is where we should begin.