What’s In Your Name?Mine is our Country

My name is Pilipinas.. yeah that is my full name.. Pilipinas.. the Filipino version of the name of our country Philippines.

The history of my name:
According to my mother, during the time she was pregnant with me, that was the time, when they felt the lack of justice here in our country. To put it simply, that was the height of them being nationalistic, hence Pilipinas.

Since my name is kinda unique, I find it hard to explain it to every people I met how my mom came up with that name. And NO, my siblings was not America or Turkey, they have more normal names.. although the history of each names is as unique as the history of my name.

What is more disturbing is not the history or the usual comment if my siblings are named as America or Turkey..it’s the P or F debate.

As I have said my name is very unique so a lot, before enlisting my name would ask.. OK not ask actually.. and not before enlisting.. they would actually assume that my name starts with F and would list it as Filipinas.. to which I would react and says it is a P. Before they change it to Pilipinas, they would ask me first why in the world my mom named me with that. To tell you honestly I hate my name before, I am not proud of it, and would sometimes wished that it was an F rather a P.

Last 2004, I discovered, upon acquiring a copy of my birth certificate from NSO, that my name indeed starts with an F.. what the F! what the FILIPINAS! And that my birthday is not the date listed on my BC.. what the! My hubby now teases me that I am not the one he married..and that he is married to Pilipinas, the name that appears on our Marriage Certificate.

What is shocking to me is, ALL MY LIFE, I have been invovled in countless debates and discussions that my name starts with a P.. that all those years, all the people who mistyped my name was correct all along. DAMN!

2008, I decided to inquire on our local municipality with regards to my name. It was clear there that my name starts with an F and not a P. The Civil Registry administrator even helped me out and lend me the book where the original birth certificate is. Now, what bothers me is how come, in the original certificate, my name is Filipinas but in the certified true copy coming from them it was Pilipinas. The admin, asked around and discovered that in the master list, my name is Filipinas but somebody who has a blue ballpen, made it a P! I can just imagine now that way back, when my mom asked for my birth certificate and saw that listed there was Filipinas, stared down at the clerk and demanded in high pitched voice that it should be P. waaaah!

It was mom’s fault afterall..

but I never blame her that much.. after all, this will will be a nice and funny story to share to my grand kids..