Much as people, unbeknownst  to me or otherwise,  whenever they would hear my name, or read it, would slightly frown (as if they heard a gobbledygook)…  or scratch their head (as if they were asked a difficult question in a quiz bee)  … or would asked me to say it again (playing deaf ha, or poking fun?), I was inspired to vigorously pounce on the keyboard and come out with this piece.

But why the big fuzz over my name? Why would it always draw, if not attention, giggles?  What’s in a name anyway? And yeah, what’s in my name anyway?

A LOT!!!

I was baptized Massuline Antonio Dupaya Ligaya.  There have been many who said that my given name is a little odd. Actually, that Massuline should have been Mussolini (yeah… from the Fascist dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini) only that the midwife who had me registered in the civil registry of Lal-lo, Cagayan where I was born, misspelled the name. My parents told me that it was my grandma (father side)  who picked the name. Of all names, I really wondered during my younger years why my Lola Basilisa would pick such a name… the name of an infamous dictator who, at the end of the 2nd World war would be hanged upside down by the angry Italians. However, there is also Antonio in my name. Lola Victoria, my grandma (mother side) insisted the inclusion of the name because I was born June 13 (1967), the feast day of St. Anthony De Padua of Spain.

At least I could heave a sigh of relief that my other name is Antonio, not Adolf. Just imagine if I would have been  named MUSSOLINI ADOLF. My gosh, I would have had the names of two of the most infamous figures (Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler) of the WORLD WAR II. I may have been an abomination to  those who suffered from their atrocities.

Anyway, it would be the Massuline that people would notice, and not the Antonio. There were those who said that my name is just a letter away from “masculine.” Jokingly they would add that perhaps I am not “ciento porciento” a masculine. Why? Because my name is that… one letter short of masculine. Then I would jestingly retort, “Tssee! Want me to hit you with my shoulder bag!”

There were those who would ask if I am a follower of the Islamic faith. They would reason out that my name sounds Arabic. I would retort that it is not Arabic but essentially Latin. Then I would ask if they know Mussolini of Italy from where my name was taken from.

Actually, in my family, we all thought that what is in my birth certificate was Mussolini. That’s why in all my official documents and IDs, it was Mussolini then that was reflected. Then, in 1990, when I applied for a passport, I discovered in my birth records from Lal-lo that instead of M-U-S-S-O-L-I-N-I the spelling of my first name is M-A-S-S-U-L-I-N-E. It was only in during the 2000s that I decided to follow the spelling as reflected in my birth certificate. It was when I took the Licensure Examination for Teachers that I started using Massuline. Thereafter, I underwent the tedious and expensive process of changing the spelling of my name in all my records…. in all the schools where I studied, SSS, PAG-IBIG, PHILHEALTH, etc.

It is only in the records related to my marriage that I have not changed my name yet. Meaning, I was married as MUSSOLINI but still single as MASSULINE… hehe. (Just joking…. seriously joking… or jokingly serious.)

In so many instances that my name would be misspelled and mispronounced Thus, when attending official gatherings, meetings and seminars I would always present my I.D. (with a with a pronunciation guide) to ensure that my name wont be murdered.  In one of my poems  I jokingly explained how my name should be read. The following are excerpts in my aforementioned poem. Below the excerpts are the English translations.

– – – – – – – – – –

Into four distinct parts must my name now be divided,
See it: MAS-SU-LI-NE, so you safely may be guided.
Read the MASSU in MASSULINE very carefully too,
Use the key at the end that pronounces it just so: (mäsū)

Do not read the LI part as “li” as in Bruce’s Lee,
Use the lī found in “lie,” as when faking a story.
Make the NE sound unique and a little bit naughty,
Match the sound of the “ni” in a skimpy bikini.

– – – – – – – – – –

And what about my nickname (or shall I say nicknames)? I have in the following excerpts from my poem mentioned above some explanation about my nicknames.

– – – – – – – – – –

With the nickname of MAD I was long identified,
As a tag from initials that can’t be denied.
From Antonio, with TONY, I also was tagged,
Even down into MASSU my title was dragged.

Sir Mad or Dr. Ligaya: my workplace epithets,
With so many distinct names, I grew quite perplexed.
When a child, by my playmates, I used to be labelled,
They would scream out “DADDU!” and I quickly was angered.

In a previous workplace within my own country,
People said that they found my full name rather funny.
It was tiring to speak it in full and entirety,
So “DR. JOY! DR. JOY!” is how they would call me.

Out of all of the monickers I have been called with,
There is only one name that I consider so sweet.
I feel truly delighted whenever I hear it,
For that name is just CHING, music to my ears indeed.

– – – – – – – – – –

Tony, Mussi (make it Massu if you wish  to), Mad, Dr. Ligaya (sometimes Sir Joy), Daddu…. whatever… it’s fine with me. But I’d rather be called CHING… it makes me feel at home… for that’s how my beloved mother, father, siblings, relatives and the love of my life call me.

But please don’t combine MAD and CHING. If so that would be MADCHING. Ouch… that would be a “t” sound short of “MATSING” (a Filipino term for monkey.)

MASSULINE ANTONIO DUPAYA LIGAYA… that’s my full name. CHING… my nickname…HARDPEN my nom de plume.