ito na ba ang mundo?

Main Avenue Renamed. Photo Source: @tjmanotoc

Today, TJ Manotoc posted a twitpic of Main Avenue in Cubao being formally renamed to Justice Lourdes Paredes San Diego Avenue. As an impulsive response, I retweeted the photo and commented that I thought it was a waste of taxpayer money. He responded that we didn’t know yet what she’s done so we couldn’t really, uh, judge. He’s right, of course, we have to consider what the person’s contribution to society is. But my beef isn’t with who the street is named after, it is on why the street was renamed at all.

I don’t if this renaming is going to make much of a difference. I’ve noticed that renamed streets generally just confuse people. For instance, the street in front of my village was renamed and QC records still get it mixed up sometimes. The street my office building is on was also renamed from Emerald Ave to F. Ortigas Jr. Road. Taxi drivers still consider it Emerald Ave while clients have gotten lost looking for it. I think that because “Justice Lourdes Paredes San Diego Avenue” is really long, most people will likely revert to calling it Main Ave or Justice San Diego Ave or even simply, San Diego Ave, which is sad because now the significance of changing the street name is gone.

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I understand that public officials have the right to honor upstanding men and women in the way they see fit. My problem is that I feel that it was made as a token honor. I mean, of all the things you could possibly do to honor the memory of Justice San Diego, why a street? And why that street in particular? I remember someone telling me once that some streets are renamed at the request of the person’s family. But if that were the case, then wouldn’t that wreak havoc on the the idea of having logical/thematic street names in the first place. Main Avenue as literally, the main avenue or having 1st St., 2nd St., 3rd St. to refer to streets in the same area. From what I understand, they were made that way to make it easier to navigate the area.

Most people assume that renaming a street is simple. That with a wave of the mayor’s hand, the name could be changed. But if I’m not mistaken, filing a resolution to do that involves taxpayer’s money. To me, that’s money that could have been better spent elsewhere. Like better lighting for seedier areas of the district or into improving the facilities of nearby schools. Can you imagine the time and effort it will take to change that name in all official records? That’s time and effort they won’t be spending on other more pressing government matters.

Well known figures often have foundations created in memory of their contributions. It creates a legacy and there’s a notion of paying it forward to the next generations. Something like what Loida Nicolas Lewis did through the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation. It seems to me that it would have been better if the QC government named a scholarship fund in Justice San Diego’s honor. That could have been done in partnership with a particular college of law, possibly the University of the Philippines. The scholarship could even be for aspiring women lawyers in particular. She was, after all, the first woman Court of Appeals presiding judge. On top of that, she’s published books and papers on “partnership, corporations, comparative study of inheritance laws affecting women, status of women under the Philippine family laws, status of women in Asia…” Another article cites her as “the tough magistrate who convicted the Maggie dela Riva rapists and sentenced them to the electric chair in the 60’s.”

She deserves more than having a street named after her.