Why ‘Burma’?

I submitted on Aug. 3, 2012, a piece titled “Myanmar on the Move” for the Saturday space in the Philippine Daily Inquirer of the Makati Business Club. In the published version, “Myanmar” was replaced with “Burma” both in the head and in my text.

I would like to understand why the Inquirer made this change. “Myanmar” has been the official name for the country. With the political changes in the country, “Myanmar” has become acceptable to international organizations and the international media, including those in the West that had supported sanctions against the government, and even to opposition groups within and outside the country.

Since I was contributing an opinion piece, the Inquirer might have respected my decision on how to name the country. But, perhaps, the Inquirer has its own policy on this issue, which I would like to know.

—EDILBERTO C. DE JESUS,

president, Asian Institute of Management

The Inquirer has long been using the name “Burma” in solidarity with the Burmese people’s aspirations for democracy and with Nobel

Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who refers to her country only by that name, even in speeches during her recent trip abroad after her long house

arrest.—ED.