BY the time copies of this issue hit the streets this week, residents of barangay Balatas must have had their hearing on the proposed ordinance, sponsored by Councilor Bernadette Florendo-Roco, of re-naming the road traversing the barangay after Rev. Fr. Miguel Robles de Covarrubias.
The barangay assembly that is scheduled at 5:00 in the afternoon on Thursday, April 4, that will discuss the proposed ordinance is a strong statement of the power of the barangay to participate in the naming of “city roads, avenues, boulevards, thoroughfares,. and bridges” conferred on independent cities whose charters prohibit their voters from voting for provincial elective officials, provided consultation with the National Historical Institute is undertaken, as enjoined by the Local Government Code.
The change in the name of Balatas Street has been prompted by the forthcoming tercentenary of the regional devotion in honor of the Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia in 2010. The devotees of the Ina of Bikol obviously owe a lot to Fr. Miguel Robles de Covarrubias who brought the devotion to Nueva Caceres, the old name of Naga City. Had Fr. Miguel Robles de Covarrubias not be summoned to the diocese to have his ordination and assignment here, the devotion would have been initiated and established in Pasig.
There are lots of reasons then --- historical, religious even economic --- for which the City of Naga should be thankful, being chosen the site of this regional and international devotion.
The desire to rename the street running parallel to the river bank after Fr. Robles de Covarrubias is said to have been overdue for three centuries. That is how far back in history is the name deemed proper for the street, considering that not even a piece of structure or land has been named after this priest. That is definitely culture-friendly and that is how the Sanggunian Panlungsod Committee on Culture and Arts has been responding to the call of City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo for a more vibrant cultural revival of the city’s heritage in the last two and a half years of his return to City Hall.
Street re-naming and similar activities that make culture and local history more apparent and more informative of the rich heritage of Naga are not far and distant endeavors. For one, there is a resurgence of interest in the use of the Bikol language. There must, however, be caution and care in undertaking such an activity, which in the process may do more harm than good to the Bikol language.
Take the case of the use of Bikol in the media --- in the radio, television, and print, even in homilies during Sunday services. Some use Bikol as if they are licensed to speak or write what they please or have recourse to the use of TagBik (Tagalog words used as Bikol) or Biklish (English words used with Bikol suffixes or prefixes).
Some more popularly abused words are: “promoter” which is from the English “promote” but used as if it were Bikol, though it is not even Spanish; “mayora”, the non-existent feminine for the masculine noun “mayor’, “mayora” is not Bikol, not even Spanish, for the Spanish of “mayor” is “alcalde”; “consejala” is not the feminine of “consejal” since “consejal” in Spanish is used for both masculine and feminine. Include in this list, such bastardized Bikol words as bayolente, trayumpo, sari-saring, boksingero, protectado, rampante, porbaran, chanza, batikos, may capaz, cualificado.
It is a pity that Spanish is no longer offered as a subject in most colleges and universities in the province. Spanish vocabularies are used in daily conversation in Bikol. An elementary knowledge of Spanish gives one facility in understanding old documents about Bikol. Ignorance of Spanish should not give one the license to invent new words and use them as Bikol. That, in no way, strengthens the language. It is one way of prostituting, if not murdering, the Bikol language. That is definitely not culture-firiendly.
