Kwento sa likod ng pangalan...

Palaging tanong na hindi ko masyadong nabibigyan ng karampat na sagot ngunit patuloy na ibinabato ng sinuman sa aking mga nakilala at nakasalimuha sa mundo ng internet…

 

Sa pagkakataon ngayon, naging interesante (o baka naman wala lang talaga akong magawa) at pinili kong umpisahan at ikwento ang buong salaysay:

 

Taong dos mil dos(2002)... buwan ng Mayo… bandang alas tres ng hapon… pang-gabi talaga ako pero nasa dayshift ng kasalukuyang trabaho dahil nagse setup ng mga PC sa bagong nilipatang opisina slash mukhang-bahay slash tambayan.  Masasabing trabaho dahil kumikita, kahit na ang nature of work ay maituturing na confidential -  “if I tell you, then I have to kill you” kind of stuff - pero hindi sya tungkol sa terorismo no.  Tungkol lang sa medyo sensitibong mga bagay na sa ngayon ay hindi pa sigurong kayang tanggapin ng mga konserbatibong Filipino.

 

sige balik na sa kwento…

 

Dahil mahilig kami sa chat noon, ito lang ang tanging solusyon upang magpalipas ng oras sa panggabing trabaho.  Meron kaming tambayang chatroom sa gabi, na puro kabulastugan at kalokohan ang inaatupag.

 

Pero sa pagkakataong yun, nasa dayshift ako, yung mga karaniwang kong kasalimuha ay mga tulog!!! At dahil hindi ko mapigilan ang pangangati na mag type at mag post, in other words, mag chat… ayun! naglibot ako at nakita ko ang napaka interesadong pangalan ng chatroom…

 

NAGCHACHAT HABANG NASA OPIS! (kasama talaga ung exclamation point, para bang andun ung emphasis of defiance about prevailing company policies regarding chatting)

 

Uy, mukhang pwede ako dito… sige nga at makapagmasid…

 

Andun yata si TRUEASIATIC(hindi ko pa sya kilala nun), nang o okray ng ibang chatters o nagpapa quiz(parang WW2BAM). Tapos halos puno ang chatroom… maraming nag uusap, may nagtatanong tungkol sa personal, sa lovelife, sa trabaho, sa sex, sa fone number… lahat lahat na.  Andun din yata si TRIP(ang alam ko pag andun si TRUE andun din si TRIP)… second the motion ni TRUE sa pang o okray yan…

 

Sa tingin ko nakahanap na rin ako chatroom na pwede kong maging tambayan na hindi masyadong guguluhin ng mga booter, ng mga flooders, mga bots at mga manyak na mahilig sa webcam shows.  Kaya lang mukhang kelangan kong magpalit ng ID kasi masyado yatang conceited yung BEN_APLEK na ID ko. BEN_DIESEL kaya? Ay, meron na sabi ng Yahoo Profiles… naunahan ako…

 

Papano nga ba napunta sa plorwaks?

 

Naalala ko ung biru-biruan tungkol sa mga job offer.  High paying jobs at per hour ang rate… pero mahirap ang trabaho: taga tulak ng barko sa pier, taga repair ng radiator ng Volkswagen beetle, taga vulcanize ng gulong ng tren at ang biglang nag click sa utak ko:

 

taga plorwaks ng runway…

 

Malapit ako sa Clark Air Base… Diosdado Macapagal International Airport(dun ba sya namatay? parang Ninoy Aquino International Airport)… malapit sa eroplano… malapit sa runway…

 

Pwede na… Unique ang dating… madaling matandaan kaysa sa deviation ng pangalan mong maraming kapareha at magkakatalo lang kayo sa mga additional characters o number na idinugtong… mala ladiesman217… na marahil ay ibig sabihin na 217 na kayong naka-isip ng ganung ID…

 

Hanggang sa lumipas ang panahon na tuluyan nang naikabit sa akin ang terminong yun at nagtapos sa pinaikling bersyon: PLORWAKS… hindi ko na rin iniba… ginamit ko na rin sya sa pangkalahatan… sa multiply, imeem, hi5, tagged, crunchyroll, pati na rin sa jobsdb, atbp.  Dati sa friendster din kaso sabi ng mga batchmates ko wala raw silang kilalang plorwaks sa batch namin kaya todo explain ako at ibinalik ko sa first name ko para lang mapabilang sa grupo…

 

Sa itinagal ng panahon, ang Donnie ay naging synonymous sa plorwaks at ganun din ang plorwaks kay Donnie… parang Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde… parang si Lord Byron na tropa ko nung high school: He is quiet at home, he’s noisy at school - ang description sa kanya sa yearbook namen…

 

Lahat naman tayo siguro may dual personality, yung isa ay yung kung ano tayo ngayon at yung isa ay yung kung ano ang gusto natin o yung mga bagay na itinatago natin sa iba at hindi natin magawa sa harap ng karamihan.  Pwedeng alter-ego o kung anu man ang gusto nyong tawagin, minsan nagbibigay-daan para mailabas ang mga saloobin natin at upang tayo ay maging isang perpektong taong pinapangarap natin para sa sarili.

 

Bago tayo naging Filipino...

 

History of the archipelago before the Spaniards

 

The tradition of Philippine history writing, which the Spanish chroniclers originated and which American and Filipino writers followed later, had the Spaniards, more specifically, Ferdinand Magellan, discover the Philippines.  The obvious implication is that the Philippines, or more accurately, the archipelago later called the Philippines, was unknown to all.  However, archaeological records and narratives written by Chinese officials, including those written by Muslim scholars, point to the early relations of the Philippines with the neighboring countries.  But these records, written or floating, are not sufficiently numerous to form a continuous and meaningful narrative of Philippine history before the coming of the Spaniards.  Even so, the records are in themselves clear proofs of the existence of a civilization which had an oriental texture.

 

Peopling of the Philippines

 

Up to the early 1970s, it had been assumed that the Philippines was a part of mainland China.  It was theorized that during the Pleistocene or Ice Age, the waters surrounding what is now the Philippines fell about 156 feet below the present levels.  As a result, a vast area of land was exposed and became a sort of land bridges to the mainland of Asia.  In February 1976, however, this theory of the “land bridges” to Asia was disputed by Dr. Fritjof Voss, a German scientist who studied geology of the Philippines.  According to Dr. Voss, THE PHILIPPINES WAS NEVER A PART OF THE MAINLAND OF ASIA but that it rose from the bottom of the sea and “continues to rise as the thin Pacific crust moves below it.”  As proof that the Philippines was never a part of the Asian mainland, Dr. Voss points to the fact that when scientific studies were done in 1964-67 on the thickness of the earth’s crust it was found out that the 35 kilometer thick crust underneath China does not extend to the Philippines.  Hence the latter could not have been a part or “land bridge” to the mainland of Asia.  On the other hand, the Philippines lies “along the great earth faults extending to deep undersea trenches” and through violent earthquakes what is now the Philippines rose to the surface of the sea.

 

Whatever the cause of the Philippines coming to the surface of the sea, it is certain that ancient man came to settle in it.  The widely accepted theory that the Negritos were the aborigines of the Philippines is now severely criticized in anthropologically literate quarters.  The young Filipino anthropologist, F. Landa Jocano of the University of the Philippines, disputes Professor H. Otley Beyer’s assumption that the Malays migrated to the Philippines and now constitute the largest portion of the population.  It was also Beyer who theorized that the present Filipinos had a Malayan culture.  Jocano, on the other hand, believes that fossil evidences of ancient men show that they came not only to the Philippines but to New Guinea, Java, Borneo, and Australia, and that there is no way of telling whether or not they were Negritos.  But whether they were Negritos or not is not of great moment, what concerns us is that there is positive proof that man was in the Philippines at least as early as 21,000 or 22,000 years ago.  The discovery in a Tabon cave in Palawan in 1962 of a skull cap and a portion of a jaw, presumed to be those of a human being, shows conclusively that MAN CAME EARLIER TO THE PHILIPPINES THAN TO THE MALAY PENINSULA, where, according to the old theory, the Filipinos came from.  As to the present Filipinos, Indonesians, and Malays of Malaysia, Jocano maintains that they are the “end results of both the long process of evolution and the later… movements of people.  They stand co-equal as ethnic group, without anyone being the dominant group, racially or culturally.  Culturally, it is likewise erroneous to state that Filipino culture is Malay in orientation.  Even our historical experiences and social organization differ from those of the people identified as Malays.”  The differences, according to Jocano, are due to the differences in their responses to their environment.  On the other hand, the similarities found among them are due to the adjustment to their environment.

 

Excerpts from History of the Filipino People by Agoncillo & Guerrero, 6^th edition (pp. 19-20)