This image is the most famous portrait of Philip II (1527-1598), with the emblem of the Golden Fleece and holding his rosary. Painted by Alonso S‡nchez Coello (1527-1625) and is located in Prado, Madrid
Source: The Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
I HAVE REPEATEDLY been approached, as executive director of the
Kampanya para sa Kamalayan sa
Kasaysayan to support a
renewed campaign to change the name of
our country to "Maharlika." Way back last
August, I was asked to join a signature
campaign for the inclusion of a ninth ray in
the flag.
Although Kamalaysayan shares the
respective views of the patriots behind these
campaigns regarding the defects in our
present national name and flag, we have had
our reasons not to join or officially support
these campaigns. (Actually, there is a third
proposal that I have heard in the last
halfyear: change our national anthem with
Nakpil's Marangal na Dalit.)
We do share the view that there are defects
in the present national name and flag. And
we welcome public discussions on them
because they contribute to the heightening of
the people's sense of history for which
mission I had founded Kamalaysayan as an
organization almost five years ago. Yes, the
defects are embedded in the very histories of
these most important national symbols.
The proponents of adopting the name Maharlika point out that we have
continued to be named after a Spanish monarch when many countries around us have
already reverted to their precolonial names (Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, etc.).
They say it is unfortunate that the name Maharlika carrying the Asia-based values of
nobility and spirituality has been rejected by the people because of its identification to
the deposed dictator, much like rejecting "Dahil Sa Iyo" completely and with finality
just because it became the favorite song of that dictator's wife.
The issue has not been getting as much
attention as it deserves, probably because
of the same "Dahil sa Iyo" syndrome
that it has had to suffer.
Those who would agree to give this
matter some thought instead of
summarily dismissing the entire topic
away are invited to read on and discover
some surprising information just a few
weeks after I myself did.
It was just very recently that I learned
of the background of this royal
personality whose name we
have always been quite familiar with. Some months back, I had described him with the
adjective "mediocre," which I realized soon afterwards to be a gross understatement,
tantamount to judging brutal former dictatorship in the Philippines simply as "inept."
From world history, especially in the annals
of the pre-Vatican II Catholic Church, we
have all read about the infamous Inquisition,
the type of campaign that practically painted
out the words intolerance, self-
righteousness, bigotry, brutality, barbarity,
and all their synonyms on the walls of the
great churches. using as paint the blood of
its victims whose only sin and crime was
being suspected of not sharing the faith of
the criminals in holy vestments. The
Inquisition will forever remain a blackeye in
the history not only of institutionalized
religion but in the history of humanity itself.
There was this monarch of Spain whose
name I had not earlier connected at all to
this dark chapter in the lifestory of
humankind but who, I was to learn late
last year, had figured prominently in its
brutality. This monarch's first act on the
throne was to order an "auto-da-fe". And
this is far more violent than the bloody and
treacherous attacks perpetrated by terrorists
in our country, even that one in Ipil.
The victims of the "auto-da-fe" were not
dozens, not even just hundreds, but
thousands upon thousands of "Moriscos"
or "Moors," the Arab-speaking Muslims
who inhabited the Spanish province of
Andalucia. The victims were all burned at
stake. The same king also caused the
beheading of thousands X of Protestants in
the Netherlands and in various i parts of
Europe held by what he called "heretics"
and "agents of the devil."
Add to these horrifying facts the following
items: he and his father, his predecessor at
the throne, had both looted Rome and were
eventually excommunicated by the Catholic
Church under Pope Paul IV in 1552; he
died of a diseas then euphemistically called
a "social disease" but is now known as
venereal disease, due to his "way with
women." He was known to have had
several wives and mistresses on record.
Can you guess who this despicable creature
was who ruled as King of Spain? His
name: King Philip II. Guess which nation,
that can be proud of its very own heroic
heritage and glorious precolonial history
was named after him!
No wonder Bonifacio and his comrades in
the Katipunan refused to perpetuate the
name when they were birthing our nation at
the outbreak of the 1896 Revolution, and
chose instead "Tagalog" a name that
reflected the tropical archipelagic nature of
our country.
Truly the issue deserves more serious and
responsible discussion among the citizenry.
But among those who agree strongly that
the name Pilipinas has to go (and I include among the reasons the point that it sounds,
not quite accidentally, like "alipinas"), there have been various proposed replacements.
Maharlika is only one of them.
Some would bat for "Katagalugan,"' which was the name chosen by Bonifacio and the
Katipunan to refer to the people of the entire archipelago, highlighting our country's
being a tropical archipelago where most of thc people live near 'bodies of water. There
are those who want the name "Kapatiran," emphasizing the metaphor of rhe nation as
family. Therc are other suggestions including "Katipunan" itself, which would stress on,
unification.
Like the discussions on the flag, and
especially on the question of national
language, discussions on our nation's name
can become overcharged, emotional, even
messy. If we do not have a healthy attitude
regarding disagreements such discussions
can even 'be centrifugal and divisive. We
of Kamalaysayan
prefer to place our own focus on changing
our I kalooban first, on attaining that healthy
attitude to| wards ourselves and one another.
We have been doing it through the
propagation, for widespread adoption, of
the Kartilya ng Katipunan.
Resolving the disagreements on our
national symbols
would follow, within the context of deeper
unity and predisposition to further unite.
