In connection with an orientation meeting in Manila held in October 2019, to strengthen partnership between NCCA and the MIMAROPA provinces, a team was sent by the provincial government to participate, namely, Ms. Marian Cunanan, Provincial Planning and Development Officer, Mr. Gerry Jamilla, Provincial Tourism Officer and this blogger, Eli J Obligacion as Culture and Arts Consultant. The team was surprised to be welcomed by the organizers, calling the team ‘Marindukanons from Marinduque”.
The team could only look at each other wide-eyed, but after regaining some composure I raised my hand, stood up and said: “We have never been addressed like that, none of us has been called that way so this is the very first time that we are being called ‘Marindukanons’, and it is a surprise that that word is reverberating in the halls of NCCA…”.
Silence.
That was also the first time that I became aware that, what to me was some kind of deception among the gullible, has persisted.
MARINDUQUEŇO
It is an established fact that for generations Marinduqueńos have known and accepted as their demonym exactly that. An entry in “Fast Facts about Philippine Provinces‟ authored by Conrado M. Lancion, Jr., a Marinduqueňo himself states as follows:
PROVINCE: MARINDUQUE
ADJECTIVE: MARINDUQUENIAN, MARINDUQUEŇO
DEMONYM: MARINDUQUEŇ0,-A
The term demonym — from the Greek for "people" and "name" — was coined (or at least popularized) by lexicographer Paul Dickson. "The word was created," Dickson says, "to fill a void in the language for those common terms which define a person geographically. (Family Words, 2007). Often the name of a people's language is the same as the demonym. Some places, particularly smaller cities and towns, may not have an established demonym for their residents. ( Webster’s Quotations, Facts, and Phrases. Icon Group, 2008)
The spirit of patriotism and Marinduque’s beng recognized in that decade as an independent province saw the founding of associations such as the Marinduque Association in 1931. Social organizations have, likewise, been established in more recent times. One of the most active non-government orgs founded for caring and sharing with their “fellow Marinduqueńos” was Club Marinduqueńo in 1991.
In the United States, we are aware of the establishment, among others, of Marinduqueńo Association of the Capital Area (MACA), composed of Marinduqueńos from all over the province who have migrated and are residing in the U.S. capital area. It provides financial assistance to support educational, healthcare, and other initiatives to Marinduque. There's also the Young Marinduqueńo Association of the Capital Area (YMACA).
Just one local counterpart among others is Samahang Kabataang Marinduqueńo Association (KASAMARIN), engaged in the promotion of sports, culture and the arts among young people.
Don’t we already have a historically-established and adopted demonym? To just wake up one day and suddenly being called by another name, as what our experience was at NCCA two years ago, is just unthinkable and unacceptable.
Rectifications and apologies have been made by those who thought the new term they're being told and made to believe was the established one.
But it was only the start. Unfortunately, more such unacceptable confusions were yet to come one after another.
(To be continued)
