BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance establishing the guidelines in the naming or renaming barangays, public places, parks, roads, streets and edifices in the city.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Lendro B. Yangot, Jr. stated the general principles to be considered in the naming or renaming of public places include the following: engenders a strong positive image, appropriate and with due regard to the barangay, public places, road, street and structures location and history; have historical, cultural, social significance for future generations; commemorates places, people or events that are of continued importance to the city and the nation; have symbolic value that transcends its ordinary meaning or use and enhances the character and identity of the public place, street and structures and have broad public support or acceptance.
Under the proposal, before the naming or renaming of public places will be effected, as a general rule, naming or renaming after a living person shall not be allowed.
Further, no public places, streets and structures should be named or renamed after a person within ten years after his or her death, except for highly exceptional reasons.
The ordinance also provides that a genuine indigenous, and non-Hispanized spelling should be used at all times with reference to the naming or renaming of roads, streets, parks or plazas the spelling of which does not conform to official Filipino orthography.
Honorific titles like Don or Father, Junior or Senior shall be deleted in naming or renaming of roads, streets, parks or plazas for practical, aesthetic, historical, and literary reasons.
The ordinance provides that a park, road, street or plaza may be named after a family in a particular community whose members have historically contributed to the welfare of the Filipino people and the use of Filipino terminologies shall be used in naming or renaming of streets or plazas.
Names of streets or plazas should be short and simple, however, those with no historical significance should be specified and streets with indigenous names should be written but those with no historical significance should be accorded the same treatment.
Streets bearing the names of religious personalities identified with national movements should be retained or should be recommended for street names and recommended street names should be appropriate in terms of historical value and significance to the streets intended to be named or renamed.
No street or plaza should be named or renamed after a person if and when questionable propriety might arise from the said act of naming or renaming after that person and any change shall not be made more than once in every ten years.
All requests for naming or renaming of barangays, public places, roads, streets, and edifices shall be made in writing to any member of the City Council for sponsorship and that the request should contain the proposed name, reasons for the proposed name, written documentation indicating community support for the proposed name, description map showing location and boundaries of the public places, and documentation of the significant contributions of the person where the public places will be named or renamed.
By Dexter A. See
