All in da family (name)

The drive from Clarin, Bohol to Tagbilaran can take one and a half hours so i usually have fun noting the names of the businesses along the way:

Polbos ('powder') Lumber, Sumampong Lumber, Tomo Lumber, Balane ('magnet') Welding, Udtohan ('noontime') Store . . .

So many Pinoy family (last) names. Even though there's the Claveria edict of 1849—the Spanish authorities made us change our surnames into Spanish for tax purposes.

I'm not surprised. Bohol, after all, is Dagohoy country—Governor General Claveria's edict came just 20 years after the 85-year Dagohoy Rebellion so many folks could just have ignored the decree altogether.

I wonder, if most of us retained our Pinoy last names, maybe we would see businesses like these today:

Camatayan ('death') Community Hospital, Hupas ('expired') Pharmacy, Ilad ('swindle') Microfinance, Pildi, Pildi & Pildi ('loser') Attorneys at Law, Pan-os ('spoiled') Restaurant, Macahilo ('poisonous') Catering, Taya ('rust') Steel.

Hehe.

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