"Only en da Pilipins."
By Rudy Arizala
Although Shakespeare said " What´s in a name? A rose is a rose and just smell as sweet," your experience that many people have difficulties in pronouncing or determining your name and surname is interesting, if not frustrating on your part and you have to take it "with a grain of salt."
If you have that experience "Only in America" we have also a counterpart in surnames "Only en da Pilipins."
I recall when I was boarding with my auntie while studying law in Manila, we had a boardmate from Batangas whose surname was "Salagubang." As every Filipino knows, "salugubang" is an insect, a kind of beetle, in the Philippines.
Filipinos have either to opt for the Pilipino native surnames such as "Batung-bakal", "Aguila", "Salagubang","Dilim", "Liwanag", etc.,. or for surnames of Spanish or Basque´s origin such as Cruz, Torres, Palacio, Azcarraga, Garcia, etc., given us by the Spanish authorities in the Philippines by virtue of the Claveria Decree of 21 November 1849. The decree required the inhabitants of the Philippines to select from a list of surnames provided by them in the form of a Catalogue of Surnames from A to Z.
Thus, many of us, including me, have Spanish or Basque´s surnames, although we have no blood relations whatsoever with people of the same surnames residing in or those from Spain and the so-called Basque´s countries.
So, we could say also that "Only en da Pilipins" we have Spanish/Basque surnames although we do not have blood relations with people having the same surnames in Spain or Europe. There are a few, however, who opted to retain their original native surnames such as "Batung-bakal," "Liwanag", "Dilim", or even "Salagubang," the name of an insect.
By the way, during the presidency of Ramon Magsaysay in the Philippines, his surname proved to be a challenge to foreign writers and readers. "Magsaysay, a truly native surname, which means to "narrate," was difficult to pronounce or remember. So, a clever writer or journalist usually put after the surname "Magsaysay" in parenthesis the words "Mag-sigh, sigh" to remind readers the correct pronounciation. Otherwise, many American readers would pronounce it as "Magsiysiy" or it could become "Magsisi"(to repent).
The purpose of the Claveria Decree in giving surnames to all inhabitants of the Philippines is to keep Filipinos from intermarrying with whom they still have close blood relations.
What's in a name? Lots of it. For it could mean family honor, prestige, unity, compassion, cooperation, marriage or extended family relations. It could also be a bonding process especially in this rapidly "globalizing" world where not only physical barriers are being demolished but also our sense of individualism or self is vanishing..
Names or surnames do not count anymore but your Social Security Numbers or the Numbers of your ID or Credit cards. Humans have become mere numbers in our globalized modern world. The human race has become a mere dot in this computerized world?.