This is from the Spanish diferencia.
diperensya
difference
Ano ang diperensya ng alimango sa alimasag?
What the difference between freshwater and saltwater crabs?
The native Tagalog word is pagkakaiba.
Filipinos also have a sense for diperensya that means “defect.” May deperenxa ang utak. (Has a brain defect.) This often connotes a mental defect.
Another spelling variation: diperensiya
