Juan de la Cruz

Juan de la Cruz is symbolically used in the Philippines to represent the "Filipino". The name is roughly the equivalent of the American Uncle Sam and John Doe. Juan de la Cruz is usually depicted wearing the native "Salakot hat", "Barong Tagalog", long pants, and slippers (called "tsinelas" in Filipino). The term "Juan de la Cruz" is also used when referring to the collective Filipino psyche. The terminology was coined by Robert McCulloch Dick, a Scottish-born journalist working for the Manila Times in the early 1900s, after discovering it was the most common name in blotters. [Citation | last = | first = | title = The 1958 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts - Robert McCulloch Dick| url=http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographyDickRob.htm | accessdate = 2007-07-01]

There was, however, a real Filipino by the name of Juan de la Cruz who was a coxswain of a steam launch who was arrested on suspicion of murdering two men on June 7, 1886. He was thrown into the Cavite jail and remained there for twelve years due to neglect of the Spanish colonial government, awaiting a trial which never came. When the Americans came, he was set free on May 1, 1898. [cite book | last = Zaide | first = Sonia M. | authorlink = | title = The Philippines: a unique nation | publisher = | date = | pages = 212 | doi = | isbn = ]

The name is Spanish which translates to "John of the Cross". The majority of Filipinos have acquired Spanish surnames largely due to more than 300 years of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. The Roman Catholic Church also plays an important role in the naming of a child, with almost every other baby baptized and named after a saint. San Juan de la Cruz was a Spanish mystic and Doctor of the Church; a leading figure in the Catholic Reformation.

Activists 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.

ee also

* National personification
* Uncle Sam
* John Doe — an American equivalent
* Juan Tamad, or Lazy John — another character common in Filipino culture

References