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Juan de la Cruz is Spanish for John of the Cross

In the Philippines, the name Juan de la Cruz is symbolically used to represent the "Filipino" and he's usually depicted wearing the native Salakot hat, Barong Tagalog, pants, and slippers (called tsinelas in Tagalog). The term Juan de la Cruz is also used when referring to the collective Filipino psyche. The term was coined by R. 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 needed]}

^†There was however a real Filipino who was a cowswain of a steam launch and was arrested on suspicion of brutally murdering two men on June 7, 1886. He was thrown into the Cavite jail and remained for twelve years due to neglect of the Spanish colonial government to wait for a trial which never came. When the Americans came, he was set free on May 1, 1898.

[edit] See also

• John Doe — An American equivalent
• Juan Tamad, or Lazy John — Another character common in Filipino culture

[edit] Reference

• ^†page 212, The Philippines, a Unique Nation by Sonia M. Zaide.