Hello Calle-graphers!

Most of us know street names by heart, especially those who drive or commute their way to school or work. But do you sometimes wonder about who are all those people whose names become street names? With the exception of really famous people like Rizal, Bonifacio, Luna, del Pilar, Tandang Sora, etc. who are national heroes, all of which we know get their names end up as street names, do you ever ask yourself who this certain person is and why this street is named after him or her? Or maybe why this place is called Santolan? Manggahan? Anonas? Maybe we just dismiss those thoughts but I think it’s nice knowing who all these people are or why is this place named for such a thing.

And then a question comes to mind? Who is in charge of naming these streets? After a bit of googling, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines has guidelines on this. You may read the full text of the Revised Guidelines on the Naming and Renaming of Streets, Public Schools, Plazas, Building, Bridges and other Public Structures on this LINK.

But here are a few interesting points from the guidelines:

Who may name or rename streets?

• may be named or renamed by the President, through a proclamation, or by Congress, through legislation.
• may be named or renamed by the local government unit concerned (with exceptions)

How about naming/renaming after Persons?

• may be named or renamed to honor a person or family who contributed to the welfare of the Filipino people.
• those already named after presidents, national heroes cannot be replaced with names of people of lesser importance.
• shall not be named or renamed after a living person.  

Meanwhile, roads can be named/renamed after the following:

• Presidents and national heroes for primary roads;
• Senators and congressmen for secondary roads; and,
• Local officials for tertiary roads

Some other interesting points from the guidelines:

• No public place should be named or renamed after a person within ten (10) years of his death except for highly exceptional reasons (e.g. his death was due to assassination in the service of the country, he/she gave exceptional service to the nation, death while trying to save others, death was a result of his patriotism, and death while in performance of one’s duty).
• Honorific titles like “Don,” “Doña,” etc., should be deleted in naming or renaming of streets, plazas and other public places for aesthetic and practical reasons.
• No public place should be renamed if the present name has attained a degree of historical association and has developed an importance of its own.
• Names of places, which have been sanctified by long usage by the people, shall be retained and preserved.
• Names of public places named after foreigners or places with foreign names may be retained if these names were associated with the place and attained a degree of historical significance.

So there you go! I hope you'll join me in this journey of discovery and rediscovery. I'll do my best to get the best info on this people named after streets but it would be nice if you can share too! Till my next post!