my name is __ OR "big phallus"

You never really get to pick your name, and if you believe in numerology (i'm not saying you should), it doesn't even matter if you change it, because the name you were given is the person you'll always be, forever and ever, like the day you were born on or the genes you were given, ...you're stuck with it even if you try to hide it. Is it any different with countries?

The Philippines were named after the son of Spain's King Charles I (aka Charles V if you mean emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, which he also was). Charles' son was the then crown-prince who later became King Philip II in 1556, until 1598. Many Filipinos don't like being named after him because they say he had "a venal reign and venereal disease." So it's been suggested to rename it a number of times.

It's not clear, though, that Philip had venereal disease. It's now said that he probably died from arteriosclerosis and nephritis (hardening of the arteries and inflammation of the kidneys.) A lot of people today also seem to say that he, like his forebears, suffered from the gout, and as he grew older, attacks of the gout recurred with increasing frequency and were compounded by other ailments. But maybe that doesn't really matter because most also say he was a cruel womanizer, who near death had "suppurating sores"(pussy sores) whose stench overcame the doctor. In that case, venereal disease or not, it's all just as bad isn't it?

It does seem a lot of people consider his reign venal, though (venal = open to corrupt influence and especially bribery). But from what i'm told, though, this still also characterizes a LOT in the Philippines, and changing names won't change that, except maybe look more like a con game. And i guess that's just like letting the fate of your name, that you want to change, control you. Like Oedipus or something.

As for his womanizing, all I know is what's said by some. And it's not clear. He did have 4 wives, all died before him. First he married his cousin, Princess Maria of Portugal, with whom he had a "delicate and deformed child with a mental condition," Don Carlos, and Maria died soon after giving birth. Next he married the Catholic Queen Mary I of England. She was 11 years older. When she died (no children), he wanted to marry her successor the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I, but she refused, and he blamed his mentally ill son, Don Carlos, and then proceeded to marry Don Carlos's fiancée, Princess Elisabeth of Valois (who was 14, when he was 32), daughter of Henri II of France. Elisabeth provided him with two daughters, but then died in miscarriage of a son, so Felipe married Anne of Austria a few years later. She, curiously enough, was also first betrothed to the mental deformity, Don Carlos, but he died the same year Elisabeth died, so Philip arranged a marriage with her (she was 21, he 43). Anne was also the daughter of his first cousin (some say she was his neice, though), the Emperor Maximilian II (of Austria). As luck had it though, related or not, she provided him with a satisfactory male heir, finally, Philip III .

Even though some say Philip II was horrid, and some Filipinos want to run from his name, not all do. But most people do seem to say that the defense of the Catholic Church and the defeat and destruction of the Protestantism was one of his most important goals. It's said he was "vain, bigoted, and ambitious," and "placed freedom of thought under a ban, and put an end to the intellectual progress of the country." Then again, others say he did great, and wasn't a womanizer or a tyrant, but actually quite an even-keeled intellectual himself. He did wanted to marry a protestant, Elizabeth I of England, at least once, but then again, maybe her rebuke made him angry. It's said he was a fanatical Catholic who intensified the Inquisition. But he also ruled Spain when it reached the peak of it's power. Maybe he was just dealing with the times at hand. I'm not sure and quite honestly don't care enough to find out. When Felipe died in 1598, others again note that Spain was bankrupt and beginning it's decline. I guessit's not much different from today if you ask about politicians. People choose sides for or against them with little agreement. I didn't know him, i'll withhold judgment for now.

Well, for those reasons and because of it's general colonial roots, the name "Philippines" has been suggested to be changed several times. But it always comes back to not wanting to erase the history they fought for and to be free from, and for the blood shed and work done to take their true selves and true heritage and advance themselves to where they are today, or want to be. Where they are today is a question that i won't know much about until at least a few more weeks.

Some of the other suggested names were: Rizal, the country's national hero; Bayani, an indigenous Tagalog word meaning "hero"; and Luzviminda, a compilation of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, three main island groups of the Philippine archipelago. Obviously, the Philippines has stuck.

Ferdinand Marcos wanted to rename it "Maharlika," which meant noble-warrior (like a samurai), but he wanted to name everything Maharlika, from his own unfinished movie with a hollywood starlet who became his mistress, to government buildings, radio/TV stations and a highway. Too many people saw him as a dictator on an ego trip, so they tried to humilate this idea. Many began spreading word that the word "Maharlika" derived from a sanskrit term meaning "big phallus," but that's not at all that clear, either, and a lot of businesses still use the name "Maharlika," anyways. It was rejected because no one wanted to give Marcos that sense of entitlement and power.

Well.... since Spain gave just about everything in the Philippines new names , including the peoples' surnames like Marcos and Ferdinand, it only seems fitting, i guess, to keep the "Philippines" the name, accept it, learn from it and adopt it as one's own, like a win, like capturing the flag, like conquering the conquistadores and being proud of the good stuff that was made of it. Otherwise, seems you go down the slippery slope of asking why doesn't everyone else change their Spanish name, too, because i'm sure you can trace that back to some oppressive person, too. We're all full of bad histories and good ones, i guess i'm one for embracing both. Well, i guess that's my opinion, for whatever it's worth.