S1L36 – Ethnicity, Nationality, Citizenship, Identity and Domicile, feat. Miss Hannah Maala from Buguias
Miss Palindrome, are you around?”
Hannah Maala sprung to her feet, she knew right away I was referring to her.
“Present, sir!”
“Hehehe…Miss Maala, your middle initial written here on your classcard is ‘N’ what is that ‘N’ for?”
“My mother’s side, sir, is rooted in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur. Actually, my hometown of Abatan, Buguias is sometimes called the ‘side entrance’ to the Cordilleras. From Abatan, you can go down to the Ilocos coastline via Cervantes.”
“I see. So it’s your father who is from Benguet. Your mother is an Ilocana from Cervantes?”
“Right, sir. So my middle name is Neven.”
“Your middle name is a palindrome also???” The class burst in laughter.
“Yes, sir. I’m actually proud of that…”
“Well, you SHOULD be! I don’t know too many people whose first and middle names are both palindromes. Do you realize you can file a ‘Petition for Change of Name’ and add just TWO MORE letters to your last name…”
“Yes, sir! Two more letters ‘A’ and ‘M’ and my last name would become ‘Maalaam’ which would also be a palindrome.” More laughter in the class.
“But you don’t intend to do that?”
“NO, sir, I don’t. I love my father too much. I’ll never change the surname he gave me as long as I live,” the soft spoken Buguias girl said.
“I’m proud to hear you say that,” I said, “but I seriously doubt if you can beat your father in the loving department. He gave up his dream of owning his own ELF mini-truck so he can send you to law school instead. When you become a successful lawyer—and I’m willing to bet my life you will—don’t forget to buy him that doggone mini-truck!” I said to the potato farmer’s daughter.
“I will buy my father an AIRPLANE if I have to, sir, just to show him how much I appreciate the sacrifices he and my mother have made for me all my life…” Hannah said, a small teardrop forming in the corner of one eye.
The whole class let out an admiring, “Aaaaaaaaw….!”
“That’s really beautiful, Hannah” I said, “I am a proud father myself of a little girl who grew up to become a lawyer, too. So I can relate with…uh…what’s your father’s name, Miss Hannah?”
“Reinier, sir.”
“Wait…let me…is that..uh…”
“Yes, it IS a palindrome, sir!” The whole class just literally exploded in guffaws. And there goes Deema stomping her feet again!
And here goes me again, too, banging the blackboard.
“Quiet, class!” the class settled down eventually and I could continue. “We are really privileged to have someone like Hannah in our class and…uh…yeah, maybe I’ll write the Guiness World Record people, hehehe…but so long we’re on the subject of appreciating our roots, I want us to talk about ENCID.”
The class looked up with wondering eyes. ENCID?
“Miss Hannah, do you have any idea what the acronym ENCID stands for?”
“Yes, sir. I read up on it. It stands for the five elements making up our so-called ‘bio-geographical references.’ ENCID stands for ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY, CITIZENSHIP, IDENTITY and DOMICILE, sir?”
I thought, “Oh, noooo, she’s BACK to ending all her statements with a question mark!”
“That is correct, Hannah, inspite of that tone of uncertainty in your voice towards the end,” I said.
“We can spend the rest of the evening defining these terms, class, but that will not necessarily help you understand the concepts behind them. It’s much better to just apply it to a living person straight away. Now based on the confidence with which she answered my first question, I’m pretty confident Hannah can give us a clear illustration of all those five concepts using her own circumstances. Will you do that for us, hija?”
“Yes, sir,” the girl from Buguias turned around to face the class, clasped her hands together and spoke gently but firmly, “Good evening, everybody. I am Hannah your classmate, my ETHNICITY is both Ilocano and Kankana-ey, my NATIONALITY is Igorot, my CITIZENSHIP is Filipino, my IDENTITY is Hannah Neven Maala, my DOMICILE of origin is Abatan, Buguias, Benguet and my present DOMICILE OF RESIDENCE is Baguio City…..sir?”
“Perfect! I am REALLY Impressed, Hannah, especially how you got the NATIONALITY part correct,” I said approvingly, “for the benefit of your classmates, can you explain that NATIONALITY part, why did you NOT say you were a Philippine national?”
“Sir, the origin of the word ‘nation’ is ‘nascent’ which means ‘as you were born.’ I was born an Igorot because all my ancestors were born Igorot. We only became the Philippines in the early 15th century. If I say my ‘nationality’ is Filipino, I would lose all my ancestors who lived BEFORE 1521. As I love my father, I also love HIS father and his father’s father before him. I love all my ancestors. They called THEMSELVES Igorot since time immemorial, so I’ll follow them…sir?”
“That’s correct. You’re not alone in this world who thinks that way, are you Miss Hannah?”
“No, sir! people born in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Sudan, Libya, Syria, Jordan all have different state CITIZENSHIPS but they all belong to the Arab NATION. That’s their nationality. Just like people in Beijing, Taiwan, HongKong and even many in Binondo in Manila belong to the CHINESE nation.”
“That’s great, Hannah. What about your ETHNICITY, explain that part.”
“Sir, ethnicity is so close in meaning to NATIONALITY but I found that it becomes easy to distinguish the two by tying ethnicity to what you can SPEAK. I speak Kankana-ey, so that’s the refinement of what my being an Igorot means. Some Chinese speak Mandarin, some Cantonese and some Fookienese. That’s how they can determine their ethnicity…sir?”
“Right. So if somebody keeps saying ‘money talks’ where would that person trace his ethnicity?” I pitched the beginning of a joke, curious if this girl can hit it out of the ballpark.
“In Roxas Boulevard, sir?”
“Really? Because Roxas Boulevard is where…?”
“It is where you can find the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas—beside all those nightclubs, massage parlors and beerhouses, sir!”
Well, what do you know! She hit the ball out of this PLANET. Our little Buguias Girl has a wicked sense of humor, too!
About the Author
The author is a writer and lawyer based in Baguio City, Philippines. Former editor of the Gold Ore and Baguio City Digest, professor of journalism, political science and law at Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF). He is a photographer and video documentarist. He has a YouTube channel called “Parables and Reason”
About Images: Some of the images used in the articles are from the posts in Atty. Joel Rodriguez Dizon’s Facebook account, and/or Facebook groups and pages he manages or/and member of.