In a privilege speech given on July 31st Congressman Dan Fernandez gave a lenghty harangue about one of the most important issues facing the nation: renaming the Philippines to finally rid this nation of its colonial past. This is nothing new as Maharlika has been floated around as a possible name for the Philippines before with Duterte even considering such a change.
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| https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Duterte-wants-Philippines-renamed-Maharlika |
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has suggested renaming the country "Maharlika," a word originally meaning warrior class, to pay homage to the country's pre-colonial past.
Duterte has revived an idea advocated by Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippines' former president and dictator who implemented martial law to keep himself in power for two decades. During his regime, Marcos popularized the word and named the state broadcaster, a north-south highway and a presidential hall after it.
Marcos promoted the term to mean nobility, but historians say Maharlika refers to the warrior class that served the ruling clans during pre-Hispanic times.
The name also referred to Marcos' fictitious guerrilla unit in World War II. A 1986 New York Times report said his fondness for using Maharlika was meant to honor his military experience, which army investigators later concluded was fraudulent.
"Marcos was right. He wanted to change it to Maharlika, a Malay word, and it means more of a concept of serenity and peace," Duterte said on Feb. 11.
Then Senator Eddie Ilarde first proposed the name change in 1978, citing the need to honor the country's ancient heritage before Western colonialists occupied the country. A Spanish explorer first named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas (Philippine Islands) in honor of Spain's King Philip II. Spain ruled the Philippines for three centuries, then the U.S. occupied it for 48 years.
The idea of changing the name of the Philippines to Maharlika dates back to the Marcos dictatorship and was actually a sly way of concealing his ill-gotten wealth.
During the "New Society Movement" (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan) era in the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos used the word maharlika to promote an authoritarian view of Filipino nationalism under martial law, claiming that it referred to the ancient Filipino nobility and included the kings and princes of ancient Philippine society. Marcos was influential in making "maharlika" a trendy name for streets, edifices, banquet halls, villages and cultural organizations. Marcos himself utilized the word to christen a highway, a broadcasting corporation, and the reception area of Malacañang Palace.
Marcos's utilization of the word started during World War II. Marcos claimed that he had commanded a group of guerrillas known as the Maharlika Unit. Marcos also used Maharlika as his personal nom de guerre, depicting himself as the most bemedalled anti-Japanese Filipino guerrilla soldier during World War II. In the years before the martial law period in the Philippines, Marcos commissioned a film entitled Maharlika to be based on his "war exploits". However, critic Ernie M. Hizon of the Manila Standard noted that the film does not actually depict any of the details from Marcos' alleged exploits during World War II, but is instead a "run-of-the-mill Hollywood war film populated by third-class actors."
A later variant of the hoax linked with Marcos historical distortionism falsely claimed that the whole Philippine archipelago had once been a single "Maharlika Kingdom," and that Marcos' alleged personal wealth came about because the so-called royal family of this kingdom had hired Marcos as their lawyer in the days after World War II, paying him "192 thousand tons of gold" for his legal services.
Senator Eddie Ilarde was the first to propose to rename the Philippines into "Maharlika" in 1978, citing the need to honor the country's ancient heritage before the Spanish and Americans occupied the country. Ferdinand Marcos was in favor of changing the name of the Philippines into "Maharlika", thinking it meant "nobility", as a symbol of nationalism. In 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated the idea, thinking that it means "more of a concept of serenity and peace".
But Congressman Dan Fernandez has a different name in mind. Ophir.
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| https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/inside-track/dan-fernandez-delivers-privilege-speech-theorizing-philippines-ophir-bible/ |
At least once a week, lawmakers in the House of Representatives can take advantage of the so-called “privilege hour” to talk about anything of general interest in an open session: they can discuss their advocacies, make calls to action, or just boast about their accomplishments.
But one congressman on Monday, July 31, used it to fixate on a theory that says a place mentioned in the Bible could be the Philippines.
It was a speech that lasted 24 minutes.
Santa Rosa City Representative Dan Fernandez is flirting with – or maybe seriously entertaining – the idea that the Philippines is the land of Ophir, a biblical region or port that is supposedly rich in gold.
Its exact location is unknown, but a quick search on Facebook would indicate that it has caught the attention of conspiracy theorists in the Philippines.
In his speech, Fernandez said:
- a Spanish colonial document in the Archivo General de Indias from the 16th century states that to reach Ophir, one must sail from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to India all the way to a group of islands opposite China that was rich in gold;
- that the Philippines has the second largest gold deposit in the world after Africa;
- that the Tagalog baybayin is similar to Hebrew, the primary language of the Bible, which mentions Ophir numerous times.
Implying that Ophir could be a better name for the country of Filipinos, Fernandez said: “When we learn to know ourselves, we will be known in the entire world as Ophir and we will know that we are the sons of the living father, but if not, we will continue to be ignorant just what the Spaniards wanted.”
The idea that the Philippines is Ophir goes back to the time of the Spanish occupation when a few Jesuits theorized it was so. The notion seemed to have faded out until Pedro Paterno revived it in the late 1800's. Later in the early 21st century the idea was once again championed most vociferously by American Timothy Jay Schwab also known as The God Culture. Some of his audience were excited about this speech and Tim even thinks the Congressman has watched his videos.
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlQkRpZWdSc |
froicabuling: Another exciting series about Ophir. Bro. Tim have you heard lately that one lawmaker propose to rename the Philippines to Ophir. He is Rep. Dan Fernandez. I jsut though he is following your series video. I've seen that latest vide on UNTV interview.
The God Culture: Indeed it appears he must have watched our Series. He even warns of being ignorant. proving all things for oneself, etc. Yah Bless.
I don't know if Dan Fernandez watched Tim's videos. He might have but he also mentions all kinds of weird things like ancient humans and rhinos in the Philippines 97,000 years ago. He does talk about understanding migration patterns which is a TGC original so it's possible he saw Tim's videos. But if he did watch them he did not get an education as I have proven again and again that Timothy Jay Schwab is a liar on such an unprecedented scale it is rather amazing that anyone believes the nonsense he spouts.
And that is the thing here. Renaming the Philippines Maharlika or Ophir is based on 100% NONSENSE! It is understandable that Filipinos would want to shake off all remnants of colonialism which is why some desire to get ditch the name "Philippines." But here is the thing. It is all NONSENSE! Before the Spanish arrived these 7,000 islands were not unified. Instead they were filled with warring tribes. We see this in Pigafetta's journal when Humabon goaded Magellan into fighting his enemy Lapu-Lapu. They were only made friends after the death of Magellan.
Each province in this nation was practically its own nation before the arrival of the Spanish.
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| https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/pre-colonial-map-philippines-a00225-20210809-lfrm |
A unified "Philippines" is a fiction created by the Spanish. And it's not all that bad as in the 1599 referendum some thanked the Spanish for "freeing us from "the tyranny and domination of our chiefs!"
The bishop of Nueva Segovia, Don Fray Pedro de Soria, collected those Indians together, by order of his Majesty, and told them of the advantages of the Spanish monarchy, and how beneficial it would be for them to have Don Felipe, the king of the Spaniards, as their king, who would protect them peacefully and with justice. The chiefs answered not a word to this. Thereupon, the bishop spoke again and asked them whether they had understood the words he had spoken to them, and if they would answer. Thereupon a clownish Indian arose and said: “We answer that we wish the king of España to be our king and sovereign, for he has sent Castilians to us, who are freeing us from the tyranny and domination of our chiefs, as well as fathers who aid us against the same Castilians and protect us from them.”
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXIII, 1629-30, pg. 253
So, let's stop all this nonsense. There would be no united Philippines if it were not for the Spanish and the Americans. To call this nation anything other than the Philippines is a direct denial of history and truth. The people of these islands were never united until the Spanish arrived.
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