Mr. Jan Paul S. Lugtu BSED Values Education Whats With the Name Melchora?

? Nowadays, no one dares to name ones daughter from a renowned heroine of the Philippine Revolution. Children are no longer named after the list of Roman Catholic saints whose names appear in the traditional calendar. Of course, people tend to be selective, and many still use names of saints, but they have a preference to name their child after a famous celebrity or sometimes, a child has the misfortune of being named after a person of notoriety. But that was not in the days of old when my auntie was born, and she was given the name Melchora. That was the name that she had to carry, almost considering a curse on her part, perhaps not really a curse, but really unfortunate on her part. She had to bear the ridicule and jokes she had suffered while growing up. First from her playmates, and then, from her schoolmates. Not that her not-so-nice-to-hear name had something to do with her physical appearance. She grew to be a very attractive young lady, with an army of admirers and suitors falling in line, whose Castilian features she inherited from her Spanish meztizo father. She became the drum majorette of her school, and was chosen to become the Reyna Elena for the Santa Cruzan. She took up Tourism as her major, and graduated from an all-girl Catholic college in Manila. Later on, she was discovered by Renee Salud, a famous Filipino fashion designer in the 80s, and entered the world of ramp modeling. From the Philippine world of modeling, she moved into the world of Japanese ramp modeling. This is something uncanny considering a Caucasian-looking Filipina posing as a Japanese print ad model. Of course, there had to a change in her name, so she used the name Melchona, which she had started to use while working under the tutelage and guidance of Renee Salud. The Japanese preferred that she be called Chona instead. So from thereon, she used Chona. Once she came back to the Philippines, she was known in her circle of friends as Ms. Chona Salud. Of course, in her formal documents, she had to write her real name, Ms. Melchora Salud. Even after she got married, she still used her real name. Except that in some instances, she preferred to be addressed as Tita Chona or Maam Chona. Well, I call her Tita Mely, but is never an issue for her. What is with the name Melchora? It did not let her affect the way she lived, it does not affect the way she is living her life now, and it will not affect the way she is going to live for the rest of her life.