Florencia Nena Singson — Gonzalez-belo

“Just Nen,” she’d tell her teachers.

Because Florencia Nena Singson Gonzalez-Belo finally understood: You don’t outrun a name like that. You sail with it. florencia nena singson gonzalez-belo

Florencia Nena Singson Gonzalez-Belo was born during a typhoon. The rain hammered the tin roof of the small clinic in Iloilo City, and the wind howled like a stray dog. Her mother, Luz, held her close and whispered, “Florencia. For the flowers. Nena, because you are the baby girl.” The long last names—Singson from her father’s Ilocano lineage, Gonzalez-Belo from her mother’s side—were a map of Filipino archipelago history: trade, migration, love. “Just Nen,” she’d tell her teachers

Growing up, Florencia hated her name. It was too long for scantron sheets, too heavy for a girl who just wanted to be called “Nen.” Florencia Nena Singson Gonzalez-Belo was born during a