Bland acronyms for our freeways

If assigning appellations to our freeways were a work of art, I must say that the Filipino artistic technique of “labeling” is devoid of class, depth, and substance. This is evidenced by the bland, acronym-laden nomenclature of our national expressways. “SLEx,” “SCTEx,” “NLEx,” etc., which are configured solely by the initials of the regions they traverse and punctuated by “-EX” that stands for expressway, are monotonous, unfeeling, and artificial. Such names are also crude as they can rouse insinuations of salacious nature on account of their lewd-sounding initialism. Yes, they serve their purpose, for they are short, simple, and easy to remember. But in all, they fall short of beauty, grace, and vigor.

Like other national infrastructures, our expressways are representations of who we are; they are our “face” and symbols of our identity as Filipinos. Therefore, they ought to be named with a level of sophistication, originality, and beauty that imparts facets of the Filipino character; they ought to be named with positive themes that refer to our heritage, experiences, history. And, at least, they should not be sacrificed for the sake of a convention of acronyms simply because they are easy to remember.

So instead of shortened and laborious acronyms, why not use appellations that are unabridged, unique, and close to our hearts? In our Philippine folklore, the “Life of Lam-ang,” an Ilocano epic poem, amply defines the Filipino character. It portrays bravery, sacrifice, heroism, love, friendship which reflect Filipino traits, attitudes, and values. Why not, for instance, name one of our expressways, particularly the ones that traverse Northern Luzon or Ilocandia, Lam-ang expressway? It is uniquely Filipino and it would certainly heighten the nationalism among travelers and perhaps even rouse the curiosity and admiration of foreign passersby of the beauty and richness of our culture.

Julius D. Turgano,
turgano.julius@gmail.com