Connecting a face to a name is one of life’s simple pleasures; connecting a face to a historical name doubly so. In my Facebook Fan Page I post mug shots of people we only know as street names; thus, many people appreciate seeing what Tandang Sora, Epifanio de los Santos, Elpidio Quirino, Roman Ongpin, Tomas Pinpin and Teodora Alonso looked like. Others have asked for faces to connect with Kalentong, Zuzuaregui, Dasmariñas, Ayala and even Ped. Xing who remains one of the most unrecognized heroes of our day.
This week I posted a series of photos of William Howard Taft (1857-1930) who, an inch shy of six feet and weighing 340 lb at his heaviest, was literally a bigatin. A big man in history, Taft served as first civil governor general of the Philippines in the American period, 27th president of the United States and later 10th chief justice of the US Supreme Court. This is the man for whom Taft Avenue was named and there have been many unsuccessful attempts to rename this historic, flood-prone Manila street after Emilio Aguinaldo, Gregorio Aglipay or Jose W. Diokno. I have always wondered why our politicians won’t leave our existing street names alone instead of naming new roads and eskinita from scratch. Heritage preservation is not just about historic sites and ancient structures; it is also about preserving the names of our streets or protecting vistas and landscapes like Manila Bay, Tagaytay and the zig-zag road that are the patrimony of everyone.
There are two famous anecdotes about Taft: the first is related to a bathtub, the second to a pony. When he was US president, Taft got stuck in the White House bathtub so one was made to order faster that you can “supersize” an order from McDonald’s today. This historic tub that could fit four or five normal-size men was later damaged when it was removed from the White House. During a recent exhibit on the presidency in the US National Archives, a replica of the Taft Tub was the biggest crowd-drawer.
The other anecdote is associated with Baguio, which Taft envisioned as the Summer Capital of the Philippines. In the days before air-conditioning, the plan was to move the whole government machinery from Manila to Baguio to escape the summer heat. This is why all the line government secretaries have a cottage in downtown Baguio, known today as “Cabinet Hill.” There is a compound for Supreme Court justices and even a Teachers Camp. Long before Kennon Road was built, long before the zig-zag road was immortalized in tins of Baguio Oil, Taft made a trip up the highlands to restore his health and spirits. When US Secretary of War Elihu Root inquired about his health, Taft replied that he was feeling fine and had just returned from a 25-mile horseback ride. The reply from Washington was swift and short; it read: “How is horse?”
The debate on my page was whether to retain Taft Avenue or rename it after a notable Filipino. Reading the lively exchange made me wonder about the type of history being taught in our schools because it seemed that there was more emotion than history in the arguments. While I agree that street names should honor our heroes, we do not lack streets to name after them. Some streets have gained historical significance and should not be changed. For example, when Aduana (Customs House) in Intramuros was renamed Andres Soriano, we erased a historic street name. Surely, there were many new streets to name after Soriano, why pick on Aduana? Recently, Calle Nueva (New Street) in Binondo was renamed Yuchengco; surely there is some unnamed street somewhere to be honored with this name. Shouldn’t the consent or at least a consultation with the people who live in the area be taken before renaming can even be proposed? Then the National Historical Commission should be consulted for renaming to prosper.
The issue is not confined to Manila. Three resolutions were recently introduced in Cagayan de Oro: to rename Antonio Montalvan street into Felix Y. Manalo St., to rename another street into Eraño V. Manalo St. and to declare July 27, 2012 and every year thereafter as Iglesia ni Cristo Day in CDO. I’m sure the person who introduced these resolutions had good reason, but then isn’t the road to hell paved with good intentions? Montalvan was a World War II hero of Mindanao, who should be remembered. Shouldn’t the Manalos be given unnamed streets or memorialized in other ways?
Before I retired from the Historical Commission our standard reply to the renaming of streets, school buildings and bridges was for the proponent to explore other options. When pushed to the wall we would recommend that both names be prominently displayed, for example: Enrique T. Yuchengco (formerly Nueva Street). Sometimes restoring an original name produced other problems. For example, how can we endorse restoring Heneral Antonio Luna in Intramuros to Calle Real (Royal Street)? In 1957, by Republic Act 1665 the municipality of Papaya was renamed in honor of revolutionary general Manuel Tinio. How are we to decide on restoring the name of the town to Papaya? There is truly more in a name than we think.
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