Lagman opposes bill seeking to rename EDSA to Cory Aquino Ave.

MANILA, Philippines—Just leave it alone.

Thus said House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman as he twitted a proposed law seeking to rename Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, to Cory Aquino Avenue in honor of President Aquino’s late mother.

“EDSA has acquired a very significant historical meaning that should not be tampered. I think that is a very partisan measure,” Lagman said at a press conference on Wednesday.

“It’s difficult to erase the name EDSA because that (highway) is already an institution. We should honor rather than discard it,” he stressed.

Lagman said that if supporters of the President really want a highway named after his late mother, it should be the road leading to the Hacienda Luisita, which is owned by the late president’s family, and not the main thoroughfare in Metro Manila named after a noted Filipino historian.

Bohol Representative Rene Lopez Relampagos, who filed House Bill No. 5422 seeking to rename EDSA, said one cannot think of EDSA, one of the longest avenues in the country, without thinking of Corazon Aquino as it has become synonymous to people power.

Relampagos said that Corazon Aquino had gained the respect and the admiration not only of the Filipinos but also of the world, and earned international recognition as a woman who helped pave the way for the restoration of democracy in the country.

“Indeed, one cannot think of the 1986 EDSA revolution without thinking of Corazon C. Aquino. Even after her term as president of the Republic, she lived her life fighting for democracy,” Relampagos said.

“It would be but a fitting tribute to former President Corazon C. Aquino, a woman of courage and valor, that EDSA, the avenue that became testament to the country’s love of democracy, be renamed after her,” he added.

EDSA, formerly known as Highway 54, is Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare that runs from the north to the south of the metropolis.

In 2009, then Sen. Mar Roxas made a similar proposal, a few days after the former president died of colon cancer. The proposal, however, was withdrawn without an explanation just a few hours after his office released a statement announcing it.

Originally posted at 05:39 pm | Wednesday, November 23, 2011