Philippines’ Name
As a Filipino student indulging in politics and history, I see a lot of Philippines OCs and now I’m sick of it. So I’m telling you some basic facts about ‘Pinas. The Philippines is called the “Pearl of the Orient Seas” which could generally refer to them as a female. The gender doesn’t matter though. Long before the Spanish came and conquered us for 333 years, there were already tribes in the country living with their own culture in their own islands in the archipelago. Some (most actually) people think that the generic Spanish-esque name is what the country would use if he/she ever gets a name. But let me tell you this, our ancestors hated the Spaniards. Sure, they were forced to live like them and there probably was some renaming going on, but the country’s original name is most definitely not Maria or Juan or Pedro or something. If Philippines is ever going to appear he/she would have have a name given to him/her by the babaylan (spiritual doctors or witch doctors) or some other spiritual person or maybe the leaders of the tribes (which would be a miracle cause they didn’t have much unity back then) and will be said as a name gifted to him/her by the old gods, mainly by Bathala the main god. It could be Hanan, who is the child of Bathala, the Goddess of the Dawn or Hamili which means the chosen one. There are several other terms which can be used as names. As time would go one, she/he would keep his/her original name or would change names to suit the people. This is where the Spanish generic names come in.
