EDITORIAL - PH or PHL?

Many Filipinos may still not know it, but the new official initials for the Republic of the Philippines are no longer RP but PH or PHL. The Department of Foreign Affairs adopted the initials currently used by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

It is not clear why the DFA could not come up with its own original idea about which initials the Philippines must henceforth be known by, instead of adopting the initials the ISO uses when referring to the Philippines.

Just as unclear is why there has to be two sets of initials — PHL and PH — by which the Philippines should be officially known. Virtually all other countries are known by a single set of initials.

The official initials for the United States of America are USA. The initials US are for informal use but may be used formally as part of a longer official name, as in USPS for United States Postal Service, or USAID for United States Assistance for International Development.

The UK, on the other hand, stands for the United Kingdom, the collective name for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. That is the only time UK is used. What is referred to as Great Britain are only England, Scotland and Wales, i.e. without Northern Ireland.

Thus, it is very important that a country has to be known by only one specific set of initials. We were doing fine with RP. But if this has to be changed, so be it. But at least let us make up our minds about how we have to be known.

The resulting ambiguity from having two sets of initials has resulted in a confusing variety of references when used in newspaper reports. Some newspapers, for reasons that are theirs alone, use the initials PH. Other newspapers, again for their own reasons, use PHL.

Let not the brevity of the initials of a country deceive us into believing them trivial enough to be subjected to whimsical use or interpretation. Their use must not depend on one’s convenience. The DFA must revisit its order and decide which is which: PH or PHL?