For Mutual Respect & Cultural Equality
One common misconception about the Philippines is that it speaks only one language–and that is Tagalog (honey-coated as Filipino). In fact, Tagalog/Filipino speakers comprise only 29% of the total population and the rest are Non-Tagalogs. And now, there is a petition at the Supreme Court by a group called WIKA. It is questioning the use of English as a medium of instruction at all eduactional levels; arguing that it is unconstitutional. In short, WIKA is aiming (again), to impose the Tagalog/Filipino at all educational levels all through out the archipelago. (Actually, they have been doing this for a very long time since Manual Quezon in 1935). To cite an example, Palawan used to be a Cuyonon speaking island. Now, it has become a Tagalog speaking province. Many languages in the country are dying because of this wide spread Tagalization.
How come it is considered a national language when majority of the inhabitants of the Philippines are non-Tagalog? Well, it is history and politics again. And it would be improper to discuss them here.
One would argue that it is English that is a threat to the Tagalog/Filipino language and other Philippine languages. If English is a threat to the Tagalog/Filipino language because it is foreign, then Tagalog/Filipino is also a threat to all the NON-Tagalog languages for the same reason. The English language, from the non-Tagalog point of view, is neutral in the sense that it is use globally. Tagalog/Filipino has no value of that kind for the NON-Tagalog people except to the Tagalog people themselves. Let the Tagalog people keep their language in their own territory, and the non-Tagalogs will do likewise.
Tagalistas consider defending one’s language as "regionalism". We could argue, then, that the imposition of Tagalog/Filipino to the NON-Tagalog people such as Waray, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Kapampangan, Ivatan, etc. etc. etc. is colonialism. Can’t we build a nation that is grounded on mutual respect and cultural equality?
Defending one’s language is nationalism and never "regionalism." One must remember that there never was a Philippines before the westerners came. There never was a Philippines before 1521. However, the Ilonggo nation, the Cebuano nation, the Maranao nation, etc. etc. etc were and still are there . And these nations have their own respective history which could be traced back to the beginning of time. And these are being manisfested in their respective languages. How old is Filipino language? It was only instituted in 1935. How old are the indigenous languages in the Philippines?
The Philippines is an assembly of nations. It is not a nation. Definitely not a Tagalog nation. The kind of nationalism that is being perpetuated by Imperial Manila (specifically people from UP Diliman) is Tagalog nationalism at the very core.
I don’t advocate secession. I am for cultural equality and mutual respect.
We brag to the world that we are in a democratic country. Let’s put that into practice.
Current Affairs |17 Responses to “For Mutual Respect & Cultural Equality”
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Hmm..It’s so informative..
Thanks..I had believed in the same misconceptions about phillippines for so long..
Good job, Volts!!
I admire your partisanship. That’s the way scholarship should be. I agree with what you said about the Philippines being an “assembly of nations”. In fact, as one scholar puts it, the Philippines is a nation with “nationalisms”, with nationalism defined here as loyalties. Take for instance, people like us who are so loyal to our language, literature, and culture. It is just fitting that we resist this form of domination.
I respect and agree in your stand on employing the Waray language as a medium of communication and even instruction both within and outside the domain of Waray education and culture. Other local (Tagalog) and foreign (English) languages already dominate the printed, mass media and publishing reference materials, the Waray language however remains at the edge of forgetting its “memory.”
Yet I find it difficult to believe that “Defending one’s language is nationalism and never ‘regionalism.’” I mean, what does nationalism signifies? Merely defending our Waray language against other languages imply nationalist sentiment?
In my point of view, nationalism connotes substance (nilalaman) and not just form (anyo) in itself. Waray is a language (form) and using them is only a vehicle in expressing our mind-set and opinion on certain issue or topic. Nationalism goes beyond merely language employment…
I love “regional literature” particularly the Waray literature. I guess, comprehending our local literature and culture needs further analysis outside language itself but within the society that uses such language…
It appears that you concentrate your strong conviction in patornizing our Waray language and antagonizing them against the Tagalog language. Your statement is quite sharply critical when you wrote, “The kind of nationalism that is being perpetuated by Imperial Manila (specifically people from UP Diliman) is Tagalog nationalism at the very core.” It seems you hate Tagalog language because it dominate against our local languages including Waray language.
In my mind, we should not invest to word war against Waray and Tagalog rather in the clarifying more in what is meant Filipino language. It is not debatable that “One common misconception about the Philippines is that it speaks only one language–and that is Tagalog.” And i think that we ought to clarify that misconception. Waray and Tagalog languages are just two components of Filipino language. This should be given attention…
Let’s go back to our past and we will find there the diffirent dominant languages that dominated us once and how it happened in the social and historical contexts.
fhen,
What is Filipino?
What is FILIPINO language?
Is there,really, a Filipino language? Does it exist, linguistically speaking?
How is it different from TAgalog?
Enlighten me,please.
blanktp,
“A nation,”says Benedict Anderson, “is an imagined community.”
You cannot be a Waray unless you speak the Waray language. Precisely because it is language that binds a people, a nation. I will quote Dr.Dacudao:
“Language defines a people. A Visayan who cannot speak a Visayan language, even if he or she was born and grew up in the Visayas-Mindanao area, where there have been Visayans for more than a thousand years, is not Visayan. He has been cut off from an ancient cultural identity that remains one of the oldest in the world. Or how can a person be an Ilocano if he cannot speak it? You can’t speak Kapampangan? Then you are not Kapampangan. Ditto for Bicolanos, Warays, and all the rest. Without our language, we have no culture, we have no identity; we are nothing.
“No one can artificially create an ethnolinguistic people. Only the Creator can. Each ethnolin-guistic people is unique, irreplaceable, and priceless. To kill off an ethnolinguistic people because of nationalist ideology or economic expediency is abominable. The survival of our ethnolin-guistic people in a Creation of diverse beauty is not even a matter of right or wrong but a matter of existence or oblivion. A hundred years from now, any debate as to whether the existence of an ethno-linguistic people is right or wrong when it has ceased to exist is completely inutile, because what is being discussed is already dead.”
How can you love the Waray language and its literature when at the same time you look down on it by calling it merely as “regional” literature? Lumbera says that
“The categories ‘regional literature’ and ‘national literature’ ought to be kept separate, with ‘regional literature’ continuing to depict the specificities of the life experienced and viewed within a narrower framework and ‘national literature’ expressing larger concerns and broader perspectives.”
This is double-speak.How can we have cultural equality (in this case, between “regional” and “national”) when we maintain at the same time the hierarchical structure? The same structure that downgrade the non-Tagalog literatures as merely “regional” (e.i., depicting the specificities of the life experienced and viewed within a narrower framework).
“Defending one’s language is nationalism and never ‘regionalism.”
Look, Tagalog/Filipino is just one of the regional languages in the Philippines.But why is it that when the Non-Tagalogs try to protect their repective languages, it is called “regionalsm” and insisting on Tagalog/Filipino is not?
This is precisely the point of my essay,blanktp.
Pardon for my late reply on your few questions about Waray, Filipino and/or Tagalog languages and literatures. I was consumed by my reviews and readings pertaining to your challenging ponderings. This time however, I consider this as an opportunity to answer your questions. This is the right time…
First, on the question of what Tagalog and/or Filipino language/s, I was struck in my failure to distinguish what is theoretical and concrete or in practice.
As I understand, you do not see any difference between the two languages, “linguistically speaking.” — Filipino is quite similar to Tagalog language, reasoning out that the former is one of the many dialects of the latter.
And true indeed, in practice or “linguistically speaking,” Filipino language is never different from Tagalog, at least in the technical definitions of dialect and language.
Pardon for my previous short-sightedness. I was just driven by my past bias about the theory or conception of “Filipino” language. According to my earlier readings, “Filipino” language is a national Philippine language comprising the many existing local dialects of the Filipinos, including the Waray language. At those times, I failed to perceive the other numerous profiles and viewpoints (in William Luipen’s terms) of the said language, in order to grapple the whole truth. Nonetheless, until now, I realized that something is missing in the face of ‘truth.’
Secondly, I am also a rabid anti-Tagalista, following the definition of Jed Pensar a.k.a. Dr. Dacudao. I guess every language patriotic Waraynon should condemn Pensar’s Tagalista.
Thirdly, defending one’s language (i.e., Waray language) is never ‘regionalism’ rather ‘nationalism’ in certain selective philosophy of Benedict Anderson. To my mind, to preserve, protect, and even enhance one’s language is one form of nationalism (language nationalism). There is no need in arguing about employing and patronizing our local language (Waray language). In this respect, I am one with you.
In fact, I am currently conceptualizing a local organization that would preserve and safeguard our Waray language. I am hopeful in time that this rough conceptualization will lead to the enhancement and preservation of our Waray language. Perhaps you can help me on this one…
I find this dialogue to be somewhat an eye-opener for me in furthering my perception and knowledge on local and national languages in the Philippines. And I am looking forward for our continued dialogue…
Nalilipay ako hini nga imo baton.
May Creative writing workshop ha Calbayog yana nga Nov. 8-10, 2007. Kun karuyag ka tumambong–para la matulo nga siday ha lamiraw@yahoo.com
kun mapila ka, all expense paid.magkikita pa kita ehehhhehehe tapos magkakahimagraw ngan kasaysayan na an masunod…
sugaron ta la anay.
here is the link:
http://libro.ph/content/view/228/1/
mea culpa.
…padara la matulo nga siday ha lamiraw@yahoo.com
DIRI: para la matulo nga siday ha lamiraw@yahoo.com
Salamat Volts han imo imbetasyon ha akon, mahitungod han Lamiraw Creative Writing Workshop.
Ha diri pala maiha nga oras, nagpasa ako han mga rekisitos han Lamiraw@yahoo.com, partikular na an tinipigan han akon mga siday ngan curriculum vitae.
Nahingbaruan ko nga kakulop(Ika-15 han Oktobre) pa an deadline han submission. Interesado gud ako pero waray kaseguruhan an akon aplikasyon kun makakarawat hiya o diri…
Ano pa man, umaro ako han application form matapos maipasa ko an pera niya nga mga rekisitos.
Unta makarawat ako para maka-atender ngan “magkakahimangraw [kita] ngan kasaysayan na an masunod.” Heheheh
voltz!
nindot ni cya nga essay, strong kaau og conviction ang speaker…
however, ang ako lang nakit-an nga dili kaau ko convinced is “how” the essay was structured….
these are my impressions, and it’s up to you kun mutuo ka nako as a (reader)….hehehe
1.) una, daghan kaau og generalization ang essay.
2.) kanang first par. starting from this line
One common misconception about the Philippines is that it speaks only one language–and that is Tagalog (honey-coated as Filipino). In fact, Tagalog/Filipino speakers comprise only 29% of the total population and the rest are Non-Tagalogs.
(abrupt ra kaau ang development bah, murag dili ko prepared, pwede tingali kun ilahi nga paragraph)
And now, there is a petition at the Supreme Court by a group called WIKA (what does this stand for?). It is questioning the use of English as a medium of instruction at all eduactional levels; arguing that it is unconstitutional. (tp what extent? u mean english in textbooks?)
(kini, nga statement murag dili gyud ko muagree ani, mao ni generalization nga dili pa supported) (the phrase ”In short”, not necessary)
In short, WIKA is aiming (again), to impose the Tagalog/Filipino at all educational levels all through out the archipelago. (Actually, they have been doing this for a very long time since Manual Quezon in 1935).
another paragraph. another idea…
To cite an example, Palawan used to be a Cuyonon speaking island. Now, it has become a Tagalog speaking province. Many languages in the country are dying because of this wide spread Tagalization.
…promising kaau ni nga essay, mao nga irevised…hehehe kun naa nkay gi-revised, i-post na pud…
right now, i am really forced to be “conscious” of the Englis kay this is what my job demmands…
sge, ayo2x…padaun!!!
Inday Jenn,
Sulayon ko magCebuano kuno.
Daghang salamat sa imo mga suson(?). Makalipay nga imo nakit-an ang panitik nga kaluyahan(?) sa akong gumalaysay.
Musta man ang atong kinabuhi diha? Naa na pud kay Bf nga bag-o hehehehehehe!
ayo-ayo.
thats it, bro
omg.. good work, brother
I shall ressurect this article. Would you mind if I post exerpts and links in discussion boards? I’ll give the proper credits.
¡Viva todas las lenguas filipinas!
tagalo hispanoparlante:
go ahead.:)