Call me PaPaPi

Source: pna.gov.ph

"A chicken develops headache when it sees another chicken in the cooking pot" (African proverb). If everything went according to plan, this would be the voiceover I will get to hear upon arrival: "Mabuhay! Kalalapag pa lamang natin sa Paliparang Pangdaigdig ng Pilipinas, better known as PaPaPi!" After 12 years, I planned to come home to the Philippines later this year, around October. I had several things in my bucket list: pickup my 84-year-old mom from Zamboanga (for her to spend Christmas with us here in NZ), attend the celebration of our town fiesta (Nuestra Senora del Pilar), reunite with my former classmates from elementary and high school, pay my respects to my dearly departed family members, do some side gigs (indie film and a documentary, to make my trip cost-effective), gorge on food (tilapia is on top of the list, lapu-lapu, salay-salay, pampano, talakitok, lechon, nilupak, bananacue-turon-lumpia sa UP Diliman Oval washed down with gulaman at sago, tunay na pansit Malabon, atbp.), fruits galore (mango, guava, guyabano, jackfruit, mangosteen, durian, all kinds of bananas, chico, atbp.), and generally reorient and revive my Filipino spirit with people, events, and places in the homeland. I was so looking forward to come home, and then Covid-19 came along! Now, I don't know when I'll have that home experience again.

Earlier this week, Congressmen Paolo Duterte, Lord Allan Velasco and Eric Go Yap filed House Bill 7031 seeking to change the present-day Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to "Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas" which is "International Airport of the Philippines" in English. Just remember: Dewey Boulevard (during the American occupation is now Roxas Boulevard), Calle Malacanan (from Spanish times to what is now known as Jose Laurel Street), Calle Azcarraga (Spanish to present day C. M. Recto Avenue), Calle California (Escoda Street), Calle Dakota (Adriatico Street), Calle Herran (Pedro Gil Street), Calle Observatorio (Padre Faura Street), Avenida Rizal became Rizal Avenue, Plaza Lawton to Liwasang Bonifacio, Filipinas became P.I. "Philippine Islands" to Philippines and now often replaced with Pilipinas (sometimes I even hear of Luzviminda being floated around), Clark Air Base became Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to now Clark International Airport, Manila International Airport to Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and now to the planned Paliparang Pangdaigdig ng Pilipinas.

Going back to PaPaPi, there's nothing really wrong in changing names. When will this name-changing ever end? As long as there are politicians, changing of names will carry-on. The change is almost always brought about by the political climate of the day. Now get set, ready sing, Papapi papapi ding dong, papapi papapi ding dong!