Online Pinoys prefer PH over RP

The transition seems to be a no-brainer for Pinoy netizens. Yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that it will officially adopt the abbreviation "PH" in compliance with international ISO standards, eschewing the traditional and long-standing use of "RP". In an informal survey of Pinoy Netizens, GMANews.TV found that most respondents welcome and actually prefer the use of "PH" over "RP".

From now on, it's "PH" or "PHL", not "RP". Pinoy netizens don't seem to mind. GMANews.TV

Some met the move with skepticism: "PH maybe simplified but RP is already used for a long time. Changing it now may lead to confusion," said Twitter user @iloveJEQHM. "nakasanayan nayon mahirap na yon baguhin (People have already gotten used to it, so it's hard to change)," added @geraldpanarez. PH on the Internet However, others felt that it was about time that the Philippines adopted a new standard: "If you ask me, it should have been PH (in the first place). 'Philippines' does not start with R and 'Republic of the Philippines' is a little too formal," said Facebook user Joseph Michael Melegrito. "i vote for ph haha rp panet luma na as we all know sa net we us .ph tapus PH na!! (I vote for 'PH'. 'RP' is ugly and old, and as we all know on the Internet we use .ph so let's go with PH)," opined @SuperSaiyan99. And many online Pinoys concur. The general sentiment is that Filipinos and the international community have already grown accustomed to the .ph web domain, so the transition is a relatively painless one. "PH should be used. Internationally, I think, we're more known to be 'The Philippines' and not 'Republic of the Philippines', so I guess its better to drop the RP tag. Besides, even in the Internet, .ph ang gamit natin and not .rp," said Al Perez. "To be consistent with the dot ph web address, I'll choose PH.. Plus, it's more formal.. Just saying! ~," noted @HafshaCasan. "Philippines should adapt PH or PHL and not RP. RP is not recognized internationally. Let us conform with the ISO standards," said @boilermakers99. History of the 'RP' acronym According to Manuel Quezon III, Undersecretary of Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning, the acronym "RP" was first popularized in 1946 following the declaration of Philippine independence. "(It was used) after we became independent, to eliminate the colonial 'PI' or 'Philippine Islands'. Actually, under the 1935 Constitution, we formally abandoned the plural 'Philippine Islands' and adopted the unitary 'Philippines' to emphasize that we're a single country," Quezon explained in an SMS interview with GMANews.TV. The use of "RP" predates the establishment of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1947 in an effort to establish internationally-accepted industrial and commercial standards. Rest in peace? Humorously enough, the second most popular reason cited by Pinoy netizens for adopting "PH" has absolutely nothing to do with international standards —and everything to do with the upcoming Halloween holiday: "Iba kasi ang dating ng RP eh! Para kasing RIP 'Rest in Peace'. LOL. ^_^ (RP has an eerie feel to it! It's like 'Rest in Peace')," said @ayakochoonhee. - HS, GMANews.TV