CEBU CITY鈥擧igh time they lost the hyphen.
The mayor of Lapu-Lapu in Cebu province now wants the punctuation removed from the name of his city after President Duterte issued an executive order that settles once and for all how the name of the famous 16th Century chieftain of Mactan Island should be spelled.
The Duterte executive order said it should be 鈥淟apulapu.鈥�
鈥淭here should no longer be a hyphen,鈥� said Mayor Junard 鈥淎hong鈥� Chan, whose city honors the chieftain who came to be celebrated in Philippine history as the first inhabitant of the archipelago to repulse a foreign force, in a battle that killed Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.
Statute
Chan wants the city councilors to recommend to the House of Representatives an amendment to Lapu-Lapu City鈥檚 Charter, also known as Republic Act No. 3134, which was enacted in 1961.
However, the text of Mr. Duterte鈥檚 Executive Order No. 152 still spells Lapu-Lapu City with a hyphen.
Signed on Dec. 6 and taking effect the next day after being published in the Official Gazette, it said 鈥渙fficial names of places such as Lapu-Lapu City, having been established by statute, shall continue to be respected.鈥�
But it directed all national government agencies, including local government units, to already use 鈥淟apulapu鈥� in any written material referring to 鈥渢he first Filipino hero.鈥�
Earliest writings
The executive order noted that 鈥渢he earliest rendering in the Latin alphabet of the name of the hero of Mactan is 鈥楥ilapulapu,鈥� with 鈥楥i鈥� apparently being an honorific title, from which our founding heroes Jose Rizal and Juan Luna derived their own references to him as 鈥楽i Lapulapu.鈥欌��
The honor granted by Malaca帽ang to outstanding public servants or dignitaries shall also be written as 鈥淭he Order of Lapulapu,鈥� according to the order.
鈥淎dopting a common rendering of the name of Lapulapu, so as to conform to earlier references, will aid in the education of our youth about Philippine history which is foundational to the formation of national identity,鈥� the executive order said.
However, the order is silent about the fish.
Unless also changed by the state, most website entries鈥攍ike most wet market stalls across the country鈥攕till put the grouper鈥檚 local name as 鈥渓apu-lapu.鈥欌��