Photo Courtesy of gmanews.com By Chrixy Paguirigan
“At some point in time, history takes its rightful place, and makes it to the spotlight – leaving people without a choice but to look back”
In a scale of one to ten, how much do you know about your history? In a generation where people get too occupied with what the world presents and offers, history blunts to the least of people’s interest and is given superficial attention.
Though there are those times when history becomes an issue to the public, a recent example is when the Komunisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) proposed to change the name Pilipinas to ‘F’ilipinas by reason of its origin and history.
“At some point in time, history takes its rightful place, and makes it to the spotlight – leaving people without a choice but to look back”
In a scale of one to ten, how much do you know about your history? In a generation where people get too occupied with what the world presents and offers, history blunts to the least of people’s interest and is given superficial attention.
Though there are those times when history becomes an issue to the public, a recent example is when the Komunisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) proposed to change the name Pilipinas to ‘F’ilipinas by reason of its origin and history.
In the Eyes of KWF
The National Artist Virgilio Almario, who also is the president of KWF, is the main proponent in advocating the change of the country’s name. He points out that the name Philippines is a major reminder of American colonialism. But a number of people responded and regarded that it has its bias in some sense, because the name Filipinas is in itself a representation of Spanish colonialism.
People did speak their minds regarding the issue, and it somehow tweaked and refreshed Filipino’s knowledge about the country’s historical background.
But majority of the critic were against the idea, some even called Virgilio insignificant and irrelevant without even understanding the context, without enough background about the issue and without sufficient research. Individuals who do so are considered to be part of the group who does not value and/or appreciate history.
There is a historical basis why the KWF came up with the proposal, also the name Pilipinas does not actually agree with other existing terms since the people and the language of the country are both known as Filipino and it aims to eliminate confusion with the name – which is misunderstood because of the lack of information about “its’-story”.
Contrasting
For some citizens, changing the name of our country should not be given that much of an attention when there are more important matters that should be focused on.
Different bloggers said: “This is LEAST of this country’s worries. Call this country ‘Gwiyomi’ for all I care. I just want us [Philippines] to be less corrupt, more progressive, out of poverty and our institutions modernized!”
“The biggest question however is whether or not we should be attending to this issue at this time when so many other pressing issues are crying out for government attention.”
A lot of people who gave out their insights about the topic each have their own histories that should be respected: stories that affect their judgments, views and principles.
Everything happening, whether small or not, becomes a part of history. In a sea of citizens, it’s impossible to have exactly the same opinions, but knowing the depths of your history gives you a wider perspective and better decisiveness. Maybe taking time to know some or listen to some of his’-stories it would contribute to a less complicated issue.
“If we hope for unity, we should at least learn to look back to each history.”
The National Artist Virgilio Almario, who also is the president of KWF, is the main proponent in advocating the change of the country’s name. He points out that the name Philippines is a major reminder of American colonialism. But a number of people responded and regarded that it has its bias in some sense, because the name Filipinas is in itself a representation of Spanish colonialism.
People did speak their minds regarding the issue, and it somehow tweaked and refreshed Filipino’s knowledge about the country’s historical background.
But majority of the critic were against the idea, some even called Virgilio insignificant and irrelevant without even understanding the context, without enough background about the issue and without sufficient research. Individuals who do so are considered to be part of the group who does not value and/or appreciate history.
There is a historical basis why the KWF came up with the proposal, also the name Pilipinas does not actually agree with other existing terms since the people and the language of the country are both known as Filipino and it aims to eliminate confusion with the name – which is misunderstood because of the lack of information about “its’-story”.
Contrasting
For some citizens, changing the name of our country should not be given that much of an attention when there are more important matters that should be focused on.
Different bloggers said: “This is LEAST of this country’s worries. Call this country ‘Gwiyomi’ for all I care. I just want us [Philippines] to be less corrupt, more progressive, out of poverty and our institutions modernized!”
“The biggest question however is whether or not we should be attending to this issue at this time when so many other pressing issues are crying out for government attention.”
A lot of people who gave out their insights about the topic each have their own histories that should be respected: stories that affect their judgments, views and principles.
Everything happening, whether small or not, becomes a part of history. In a sea of citizens, it’s impossible to have exactly the same opinions, but knowing the depths of your history gives you a wider perspective and better decisiveness. Maybe taking time to know some or listen to some of his’-stories it would contribute to a less complicated issue.
“If we hope for unity, we should at least learn to look back to each history.”
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