A YouTube video has claimed that the name of the Philippines will be changed. This is a clickbait, or a post with a sensationalized headline meant to mislead netizens. The video merely showed a congressman’s speech suggesting that the country be renamed after a biblical place.
It was uploaded on Aug. 11, or several days after a lawmaker delivered the speech shown in the video. It bore this thumbnail:
“PILIPINAS WOW PAPALITAN NA? (Philippines wow. Will be it be changed?)”
The clip also carried the headline: “OMG! PANGALANG PILIPINAS DAPAT NANG PALITAN AT BAGUHIN ([Oh my god]! The name Philippines should now be replaced and changed)!”
The video only played a July 31 speech of Santa Rosa, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez where he claimed, based on an unproven theory, that the Philippines is the land of Ophir and should be renamed as such. Ophir is a biblical place supposedly rich in gold.
Fernandez’s lengthy speech was not in support of any bill but was delivered during the so-called privilege hour, where a lawmaker can speak on any topic of general interest.
There are no bills filed in either house of Congress seeking to rename the Philippines, although there were suggestions under previous administrations to change the country’s name to Maharlika.
The 1987 Constitution states that the country’s name could be changed only after it has been ratified through a national referendum.
Meanwhile, public historian Xiao Chua debunked the claim that the Philippines is the land of Ophir, saying that “historically, the argument that the Philippines was Ophir is still insufficient and more or less speculative.”
Uploaded by verified YouTube channel KAPATID AVINIDZ with 414,000 subscribers, the video has so far garnered 23,610 views and around 1,500 likes. Netizens also shared the link on Facebook.
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