Friday, October 23, 2009

Who is Juan dela Cruz?

by Mona Lisa H. Quizon

Have you noticed that Filipinos are usually called Juan de la Cruz? In the editorial section of the newspapers, you will notice caricatures of Pinoys labeled as Juan de la Cruz. Where did this name originate? Who started this so-called, nom deguerre of the Filipinos?

Juan de la Cruz is the generic name of the Filipino. It is symbolically used in the Philippines to represent the Filipino. Juan de la Cruz is equivalent of Uncle Sam of America. In Philippine culture the name Juan is associated to different personalities such as Juan Luna, Juan Palaris, Juan Tamad, Juan Baustista among others.

During the colonization of the Spaniards, one of way of showing their colonial power to us was by giving the natives Catholic names. The Spaniards introduced the name of saints such as Juan, Santiago, Marcos, Maria etc. The Roman Catholic Church played an important role in the naming of a child, with almost every other baby baptized and named after religious personalities. Indeed, majority of the Filipinos have acquired Spanish names. Juan de la Cruz literally translates as John of the Cross. St. John was acknowledged as one of the masters of mystical theology and a leading figure in the Catholic Reformation.

But reaching into the dark baubles of forgotten Philippine lore, old tales of the origin of the pluralists of the name Juan de la Cruz oozes out like an odoriferous fume. Transferred from generations to generations by whispers and candid remarks the belief that the name evolved into unrestrained colonial popularity when the Spanish masters necessitated unlettered native Filipinos to sign their names to documents. Since they could not write, they just affixed the letter x. And since the most popular name was “Juan”, anyone writing their name as x was thus known by the Spaniards as Juan of the Cross or Juan de la Cruz.

Juan de la Cruz was coined by Robert McCulloch-Dick, the editor and publisher of The Philippine Free Press in 1900s. He noticed the frequency with which the names appeared on police blotters and court dockets. He often wrote small verses about Juan de la Cruz in The Philippines’ Free Press who was often depicted narrating the petty crimes committed by them. Later on, McCulloch-Dick widened his idea of Juan until he made Juan de la Cruz as a typical Filipino. Juan de la Cruz is associated with the image of a naïve-looking man wearing a salakot, camisa de chino, native trousers and slippers. Jorge Pineda, a resident cartoonist of The Philippines’ Free Press, first drew the image of Juan in 1912.

For them Juan de la Cruz is a typical Filipino which is friendly, humble, self-respecting and hardworking. Through the years the idea was followed by other newspapermen and Juan de la Cruz appeared into various pages of books, newspapers and other printed materials.

Juan de la Cruz now represents the Filipino “masa” and is commonly used in editorial cartoons as well as a symbol in effigies and printed materials used in street rallies.
Activist often call Juan de la Cruz a victim of American imperialism, especially since most editorial cartoons of the American era often depicted Juan de la Cruz along with Uncle Sam. Furthermore, a famous Pinoy Rock Band was created in the 70s representing the archetypal rebellious Filipinos.

Through the years, Juan de la Cruz became the symbol of Pinoy psyche. His characteristics had been embodied by many of us which can be considered advantageous or disadvantageous as Filipino. In the end, Juan de la Cruz continues to make his presence felt and mark his identity in our history.

Source: National Historical Institute

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