MAHARLIKA

-a screenshot from thepatriotsasia about Jose Rizal

              Recently the Philippines President about the proposed new name of the country to Maharlika. The idea was actually proposed by former president Marcos but abandoned shortly. Maharlika actually is a warrior class and suited to the concept of serenity and peace. Salvador Panelo, the presidential spokesperson said "He said it (Maharlika) is a Malay word. Since we are Malay , we should have a name identified with us. I agree with him, I like the idea of Maharlika as a name for the Philippines. Rodrigo Duterte is probably the most famous filipino( or infamous on the killing on narcotic cases) in Malaysia after Jose Rizal, the pride of the Malay Race and often being quoted by Malaysian political leader up until now. He also made a statement to Abu Sayyaf group in July 2018:"We're not Arabs. Lets not follow them. We are Malays."

Rodrigo Duterte- google image

                     The issue is when he claimed to be Malay while he is not a Muslim did not match with most of Malaysians and Indonesian's understanding. This is because these three countries have different definitions of Melayu. In Malaysia, Malay must be a Muslim and speaks Malay dialects. This is a country' decision to protect the identity of Muslim Malay amidst various races like Chinese and Indian.
         

ethnics group in Indonesia- wiki image

           Different cases in Indonesia where only small coastal region in Sumatra and Borneo are considered as Malay ethnics while regions like Minangkabau, Jambi and Palembang whom in many ways Malay, are segregated into different group. Due to political factor, Indonesian always think their race and nation is Indonesia despite it was a recently given name derives from latin word from East Indies Archipelago. This case is a bit different for Malaysia since its literally means Malay Archipelago while by itself did not consist of the archipelago.

geographical map of southeastasia and pacific- alphanumis

              Malaisie is a geographical terms used to describe the Malay Archipelago ever since in 17th century. Note in the below map it did not include the Malay Peninsula. That itself explain the name of this peninsula as Malaya which means Malay land and not archipelago. However, upon participation from Sabah and Sarawak, the name change into Malaysia in 1963. 

a closer look up where malaisie located- alpha numis

          When we look closely to the map above, some will realize that the name 'Malaysia' is more suited to be used in Indonesia and Philippines as they consists the most of the blue region and also countries of archipelago.

La Islas Philippines- Free World Map

         Back to the name Philippines, it derives from the king of Spain, Philips II. As the process of indigenization policy, it is better to built an authentic identity free from any element of colonization. As Maharlika means freedom among the warrior, Malaya/Melayu means freedom. Notice the similarities between the two countries? This is because before colonization take place, people speak the language of Srivijaya and Malacca kingdom as the language of trade which is Malay language. This is why Ferdinand Magellan manage to converse with people in Cebu with the help of his interpreter from Malacca.

old map where Bahasa Melayu as lingua franca- google image

                  When a Philippine citizen fill a questionnaire in Singapore for job application, they will tick the box Malay race instead of Caucasian, Indian or Chinese. This might be obvious to most of people but the thing is they got the definition of Malay right as a race compare to Malaysian Malay who associates with their religion or Indonesian who mixed the term race and nationality. In any cases, this is an opinion of a person who adores the first revolution-er thinker, Jose Rizal in uniting the region under one country of the same people.