There are more pressing problems in the country that should be dealt with rather than renaming the Philippines to “Maharlika.”
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said it would be ill-timed to push for the proposed changing of the country’s name, even through legislation, amid issues today.
He took to Twitter yesterday his comment to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo who said that the country’s name may be changed through legislation and later be voted on by the people through a referendum.
“Philippines to Maharlika? Referendum? Why subject our people to a very divisive issue now? Don’t we have enough problems as it is?” Sotto tweeted.
The Senate chief was apparently cold to the recent suggestion of President Duterte to change the Philippine’s name to “Maharlika,” an idea pushed by then President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s.
Sotto had warned that the move has “too many implications.” He said it also requires amending the 1987 Constitution for it to be possible.
Sotto admitted that the Senate may not be able to accommodate the proposed renaming of the Philippines anytime soon, even if Duterte insists on it.
“Nope. There are so many realizable important issues clogging our agenda,” he said.
Sotto said that the proposed strengthening of Republic Act No. 9372, also known as the Human Security Act of 2007, and other anti-terrorism bills would be the Senate’s “top priority.”
Congress is currently on a break for the upcoming midterm elections on May 13. Its two chambers will resume sessions on May 20 but would only have three weeks before it goes on a sine die adjournment on June 7.
Duterte recently raised the possibility of changing the Philippines’ name to Maharlika someday, as he agreed with Marcos that Maharlika suits the country’s Malay origin.
Panelo earlier shared Sotto’s belief that the proposal could preferably be done by revising the Constitution. “Mas preferred siguro ‘pag constitutional amendment para wala nang question,” Panelo said. (Vanne Terrazola)
