I finally found the answer – in the sermons of Padre Francisco Blancas de San Jose, O.P., in a scholarly treatise by Primitivo S. Viray, Jr., SJ and from Dr. Jaime Veneracion, of the UP Department of History, who made interesting comments during my radio program "Krus na Daan."

Francisco Blancas de San Jose was a Dominican missionary who came to these islands in 1595 and proselytized in Bataan for ten years. Instead of teaching the natives Spanish, he learned Tagalog and studied the existing culture so he could adapt local traditions, customs and values to Christian doctrine. According to Fr. Viray, Blancas de San Jose examined the social structure of XVIth century Bataan so well that he used the dynamics of the master-slave relationship to teach the natives about the relationship between God and human beings. The datus and maharlikas who were at the top of the pecking order were the panginoon, respected and obeyed by their subordinates and subjects. Blancas used the analogy in his sermons, referring to God and Jesus Christ as panginoon. Read this:

"Datapoua ang ating Maestro, at P. (panginoon) Jesu Xpto (Cristo in Greek) ay yba ang aral niya sa ating mga Xptno (cristiano), icaybang totoo dito sa aral nang Demonio siyang ypasosonod niya sa atin mang atin pono at Maestro. At hindi rin mangyaring di sondin ang aniyang aral con ybig nating maquinabang sa caniya nang caniyang ganti sa Langit."

Padre Blancas used the Spanish alphabet in writing Tagalog and one can imagine him struggling with alien sounds he could barely pronounce. In his incomparable analysis of Blancas de San Jose, Jesuit historian P.E. Virray, S.J. expounded that the Blessed Virgin is referred to as Santa Mariang Panginoon because being the mother of Jesus Christ she is definitely a maginoo. Dr.Veneracion concurs with that view and added that in the tagalog language, words do not have genders, (for example, anak applies to both son and daughter) unlike in Spanish, where nouns are either masculine and feminine.

What about "Aba," why "Aba ginoong Maria?" I asked him and said that, in aid of Christianization, the early missionaries interviewed the natives about their beliefs and how they adored their gods. Like in many other cultures, the sun was a deity, an object of worship, and as the natives adored it, oftentimes with arms outstretched, they chanted "Aba… aba..." So, the word ginang which is supposed to be the feminine counterpart of ginoo must be a modern concoction because from the XVIth century to this very day we Filipinos have venerated the Mother of God by praying and chanting, "Aba ginoong Maria." (gemma601@yahoo.com)