National or not?

My last press l(a)unch was in a posh hotel promoting an asparagus festival two decades ago. They flew in a chef from Europe together with top-of-the-line French and German asparagus that were superior to  the scrawny green ones grown locally. I must admit the menu was creative:  imagine having asparagus from soup and appetizers to dessert.

Alas the PR department didn’t do its homework. Our meal was  interrupted by someone who narrated the history of asparagus, not  knowing I had just looked it up in “Larousse Gastronomique” and the “Oxford Companion to Food.” When the PR manager declared, “Asparagus is  the queen of vegetables,” I replied, “If asparagus is the queen then what, pray tell, is the king of vegetables?” To break the silence that   followed I added, “Why is asparagus a queen when, by its phallic shape, it should rightfully be king? Are you saying asparagus are gay?” Despite  a marvelous review built on asparagus and the rise of modern Europe, I was never invited again.

Reflecting on the king of this, the queen of that, the prince or  princess of something reminded me of the Filipinos’ fondness for titles and honorifics. Some of these come with government offices, appointive or elective, so everyone from the vice president  down to kagawad have   “Hon.” (Honorable) or “Kgg.” (Kagalang-galang) before their names. The  President, of course, is H.E. (His Excellency) as are foreign ambassadors accredited to the Philippines. Yet bishops are also addressed as “H.E.” although they used to be referred to as “His Grace.” Cardinals have H.E. (His   Eminence) but even that is sometimes used on bishops who are not cardinals.

Professionals are given other letters before their names: Engr. (Engineer), Dr. (physicians and those with PhDs), Atty. (Attorney), Arch. (Architects). To use these letters, one must be a   member of the Philippine Bar, be licensed by the Professional   Regulatory Commission, or have the requisite academic degrees, but what happens when public relations invents something like “Floral   Architect?” What about titles repeatedly used like,  “Asia’s Songbird” or   “Asia’s Fashion Czar?” What do our Asian neighbors think of these  titles? What do Malays think when we proclaim Rizal as the “Great   Malayan?”

Then we have iconic people or things that are “national” like Manny   Pacquiao who is referred to as “Pambansang Kamao” (National Fist).  The media play a role in making things “national” but they have picked up  conflicting things from our textbooks and teachers: Is the Philippine  National Bird the monkey-eating eagle or the maya? Is the National food  adobo, sinigang, or lechon? Is the National Tree the narra or molave? Is   the National Dance tinikling or cariñosa? Is the National Animal   really the carabao? Our National Leaf, the anahaw? Our National House, the bahay kubo or nipa hut? Rizal is our National Hero, but some people insist   it should be Bonifacio.

Who made these designations official? Nobody   knows. I often remark, in jest, that many of these “national” icons  were invented or at least propagated by National Bookstore through   postcards, posters, and other school items peddled to children for  civics class.

(Not everyone knows though that National Bookstore got  its name from a cash register. In the last century, Socorro Ramos,  a.k.a  Super Nanay, was hard-pressed to come up with a name for her  first store. Then she saw “National” on her cash register, and she realized that it was simple and had a good ring to it, and so National Bookstore  was born.)

The word “national” can be quite puzzling. Government agencies use  the word such the National Library, National Archives,  National Museum, National Historical Commission, National Treasury,   etc. But what happens when that office or agency has been sold or   privatized like the Philippine National Bank? PNB is now a private  bank, it is not the depository of the Philippine government anymore,  but it still carries the word “national.”

The same can be said of  Philippine Airlines, which was and is still referred to as our “National  Flag Carrier.” But then the government sold its stake in PAL, and now there are competitor airlines that should rightfully bear the title  “national” or “flag carrier.” When President Aquino traveled to Indonesia on a state visit on Cebu Pacific, did that yellow aircraft, by   virtue of its VIP passenger and mission, become a flag carrier too?  Historically, PAL is the national flag carrier because it was the  first to display our flag on its aircraft and still enjoys  preferential treatment for being not only the Philippines’ but  also Asia’s first airline.

What about National Artists, a title conferred by the President of   the Philippines on those, following present rules, recommended by the joint boards of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the  National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)? There were two who were  so honored without the recommendation of the CCP and the NCCA. Then there are those in limbo for whom the honor has been suspended until the Supreme Court can decide on whether their designation was legal or not.  There is also a prominent Filipino sculptor who does not correct media  releases that label him a “National Artist.”

Someone should look into the use and abuse of the word and figure out when and how  someone or something becomes “national.”

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