Wikang Filipino bilang global language

Ni Patricia Isabela B. Evangelista

Mabanglo

TUNAY na maunlad ang wikang Filipino kung kaya’t masasabing ganap na itong isang wikang
“global” lalo na’t ikaanim na ito sa mga pangunahing wika sa Estados Unidos maliban sa Ingles.
Ito ang tinuran ng manunulat at propesor na si Ruth Elynia Mabanglo ng University of Hawaii sa
Panayam sa Wika 2010: “Kalikasan ng Wika, Wika ng Kalikasan” na ginanap sa Bulwagang
Rizal, St. Raymund’s Building noong ika-5 ng Agosto.
Ayon kay Mabanglo, may sariling kalikasan ang wika ngunit ang kalikasan ay may sarili ring
wika.
“May wika ang hangin, ang palaspas ng mga dahon, ang alimoy ng labi, ang hindi
magkamayaw na boses sa palengke, ang busina at ugong ng makina ng sasakyan,” ani
Mabanglo, na isang dalubhasa sa pag-aaral sa wika.
Dagdag pa niya, ang wika ay may kakayahang ipahayag ang tunay na damdamin ng tao.
“Likas sa wika ang mailahad ang kahit anong kumukutiltil sa tao. Kailangan lamang talagang
pakinggan ito at pagtuunan ng pansin.”
Ipinaliwanag din ni Mabanglo ang relasyon ng wika sa isang manunulat.
“Bago ka makatula o makasulat ng akda sa isang lengguwahe, [dapat ay] alam mo ang wikang
iyon. You have control over that language and that language has control over you,” aniya.
Dagdag pa niya, ang pagsusulat ay isang calling at kailangang tumalima agad ang manunulat
dito dahil ang inspirasyon ay mabilis mawala, kaya’t dapat agad itong maisulat.
Nagbigay din ng pahayag si Mabanglo tungkol sa mga kontemporaneong usapin sa bansa tulad
ng paggamit ng wikang Filipino ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino sa kaniyang unang State of the
Nation Address (SONA).
“Kaya ako natutuwa [ay dahil] fan ako ni Presidente Noynoy. Ang kaniyang pagsasalita sa
kaniyang SONA ay talagang purong Filipino. Samakatwid, [ang hakbang niyang] ito ay
nagbigay-prestihiyo sa wikang Filipino,” ani Mabanglo.
Pinuna rin sa talakay ang mga “jejemon” na sinabi niyang hindi mapipigilan ang paglaganap
hangga’t may mambabasa at mananalita ito.
Para rin sa kaniya, hindi mga Kastila at Amerikano ang tunay na mananakop ng bayan, kundi
mismong mga Filipino.
“Kaya lang tayo nagiging duwag kasi kulang tayo sa pagmamahal para sa ating sarili. At ang
isang bahagi ng pagmamahal sa sarili ay ang salita. Kailangang mahalin natin ang ating salita,”
ani Mabanglo.
Taong 2008 nang magkaroon ng pandaigdigang pagpupulong sa Hawaii na pinamunuan ni
Mabanglo tungkol sa “Filipino as a global language.” Makalipas ang dalawang taon ay
isinagawa rin ito sa University of San Diego, at sa susunod naman ay balak niya itong gawin
dito sa Pilipinas.
Uminit ang talakayan nang magtanong ang isang mag-aaral tungkol sa panukala ni Rektor P.
Rolando dela Rosa, O.P. sa Faculty of Arts and Letters sa paggamit ng wikang Ingles bilang
medium of instruction and communication sa mga pang-akademikong asignatura.
“Language cannot be legislated,” sagot ni Mabanglo.
Aniya, maaaring magprotesta ang mga mag-aaral kung hindi sila pabor sa panukala.
Agad naman itong sinagot ng dekano ng Faculty of Arts and Letters na si Prop. Michael
Anthony Vasco na nag-sabi na ang panukala ay pang-akademiko at hindi kasama ang
asignaturang Filipino.
“Hindi natin papalitan ang Wikang Pambansa. Ang layunin ng panukalang iyon ay palawakin
ang paggamit ng wikang Ingles sapagkat nakaaalarma na rin na hindi na marunong mag-Ingles
ang mga mag-aaral. Kahit bihasa na tayo sa paggamit ng wikang Filipino, huwag din nating
kalimutan maging bihasa sa wikang Ingles,” ani Vasco.
Ayon pa kay Vasco, malayang gumamit ang mga mag-aaral ng ibang wika sa mga asignaturang
Filipino at wikang banyaga ngunit para sa mga asignaturang pang-akademiko tulad ng
pilosopiya at ekonomiks na wala pang ganap na materyal sa Filipino at ang ginagamit na mga
libro ay Ingles, dapat gamitin ang lengguwahe ng libro.
“Mayroon kaming inihahaing bagong kurso na tatawaging Bachelor of Arts in Filipino Major in
Translation. Ito [panukala] ay preparasyon sa ating magiging bagong kurso,” dagdag ni Vasco.
Si Mabanglo ay isang tanyag na makata, mamamahayag at propesor ng Filipino. Itinanghal siya
bilang Hall of Famer ng Gawad Carlos Palanca para sa Panitikan noong 1995 dahil sa kaniyang
pagkapanalo ng limang unang gantimpala mula sa patimpalak. Siya ay itinanghal na isa sa mga
Ten Outstanding Hawaii Filipino Women noong 2003 at “Makata ng Taon” noong 1992 para sa
kaniyang tulang “Gahasa.” Ilan pa sa kaniyang mga tula ay ang “Ang Pag-ibig ay ‘Di Kasal,”
“Mga Liham ni Pinay at Iba Pang Tula,” at “Bayan ng Lunggati, Bayan ng Pighati.” May ulat
mula kay Rommel Marvin C. Rio
 A truly developing Filipino language

By: Marne Kilates - @inquirerdotnet

Most people assume that the national language, called Filipino, is the same Tagalog that
its detractors have complained it has remained since it became the basis for the
development of the national language as President Manuel L. Quezon proclaimed in
1937.

This is one of the main setbacks the present Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) has
identified as it assessed the implementation of the agency’s mandate since its creation
in 1991, when KWF replaced the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa.

One reason for this apparent lack of knowledge of what “Filipino” is, according to
KWF chair Virgilio S. Almario, is that there has never been an explicit or textbook
definition of the language and, as a result, the language agency or its predecessor has
never had a clear plan or road map for the implementation of its mandate of truly
developing the Filipino language.
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This is why KWF is hard at work filling up the inadequacies of the past. At the closing
of the three-day Pambansang Kongreso sa Pagpaplanong Wika (National Congress on
Language Planning) in Lingayen, Pangasinan, on the first week of the National
Language Month (August), which was attended by more than 1,100 schoolteachers,
government workers and other participants, Almario presented a detailed agenda for
language.

Very briefly, the National Agenda for the Filipino Language contained two major
items: Standardization and intellectualization.
Under standardization were three tasks: A national orthography (now being
disseminated) and a national grammar (both will be the bases and models of any
regional orthography or grammar); national literacy through the harmonization of the
Mother Tongue-based, Multilingual Education; and the teaching of Filipino as a
second language in the regions.
Intellectualization calls for the use of Filipino in all fields and disciplines. The other
terms for intellectualization in language planning are “modernization” and
“cultivation” of language.
The tasks listed under this are: Translation from native languages into Filipino and
foreign languages into Filipino; and retooling or retraining of teachers in the use of
Filipino in teaching cultural studies, as well as the sciences, technical and other
disciplines.
The support activities for the agenda are what the KWF is doing now, such as
conducting seminars and workshops, publishing the Aklat ng Bayan books under the
long-term Library of Knowledge program, networking and use of media, and close
coordination and relations with such agencies as the Department of Education,
Commission on Higher Education, National Commission for Culture and the Arts,
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and others.
Despite the setbacks, it is undeniable that Filipino has become the lingua franca of
majority of the archipelago’s inhabitants, who should be called “Filipinos” as well, in
the eyes of KWF.
By numbers alone, national censuses made from 1939 to 1980 indicated that the
speakers of the national language increased from 4,068,565 to 12,019,139, or from
25.4 percent to 44.4 percent of the entire population of the Philippines.
In 1989, a survey conducted by Ateneo de Manila University further showed that 92
percent understood Tagalog in the whole country, 83 percent could speak it, 88
percent could read and
81 percent could write in it.
This is a huge advantage over the reported 51 percent that could understand English
and 41 percent that could understand Cebuano. (Note that in the survey “Tagalog” and
not “Filipino” was used for the national language.)
Almario notes that the 26-year-old Ateneo de Manila survey has to be updated to
show if the national language has covered even more territory in its development, or
if, on the other hand, the figures have shrunk.
But even in 1989, Almario points out, the popular acceptance and usage of the
national language could no longer be denied.
“Still,” he cautions, “even with the spread of Filipino as lingua franca, much has to be
done toward propagating its usage in the various spheres of society and the dominions
of power, for it to become a truly national, intellectualized and modernized language.”
Nationalization and modernization, KWF’s twin agenda, must be undertaken in
tandem, simultaneously. One cannot do without the other, Almario says. Marne
Kilates, Contributor
 Filipino language is going global

Hawaii-based poet and teacher Ruth Mabanglo has made it her mission to promote the Filipino
language and culture worldwide

By: Anna Leah Sarabia - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 12:57 AM December 16, 2012

RUTH Elynia Mabanglo of the University of Hawaii (right) received a plaque of recognition from President Aquino, with Foreign Secretary Albert

del Rosario and CFO chair Imelda Nicolas looking on. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

In this age of globalization, nothing could be more difficult for a Filipino living abroad
than to work for the preservation of one’s own language and culture. But Dr. Ruth
Elynia S. Mabanglo is not so easily discouraged.

As a multiawarded poet and playwright, her love for the Filipino language has found
meaning and it remains a calling. The first woman to join the Hall of Fame of the Don
Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature, Ruth has made it her mission to promote Filipino
worldwide.

Ruth was in Manila recently to pick up a plaque from President Aquino as a 2012
Presidential Awardee for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas, in the
“Pamana ng Pilipino” category. It is conferred on Filipinos overseas who have brought
the country honor and recognition through excellence and distinction in the pursuit of
their work or profession.
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She has published six books of poetry and several scholarly works included in
anthologies and often cited in scholarly journals. In 2008, the De La Salle University
Filipino Department convened critics and scholars for a monthly forum on her works,
the “Ruth Elynia Mabanglo Lecture Series.” Her poems were among those highlighted
in the 2012 Aliw award-winning film by Alvin Yapan, “Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang
Kaliwang Paa.”

Ruth’s latest crusade is to nurture Filipino as a global language. Several years ago,
when then President Gloria Arroyo pushed for Spanish to be taught in high schools and
for prioritizing English so Filipinos could better serve global business, Ruth mobilized a
protest petition.

“I encouraged my students all over the United States to sign a petition to fight the
killing of Filipino in high school and college, which was part of the Gullas Bill that
Arroyo favored. Later on, I organized the ‘Filipino as a Global Language’ conference as
a professor of Filipino language and Philippine literature at the University of Hawaii,”
she said.

Courses around the world

Through the conference, Ruth began to identify all the Filipino language programs in
the world.

“I was able to identify, for instance, that in Sorbonne University in France, there is a
Filipino named Marina Pattiere who is teaching Filipino. I found out that in the
University of London, there is a Philippine Studies course and students there are asked
to go to learn the Filipino language in the Philippine Embassy. I was looking for
courses, programs and people teaching Filipino. I am in correspondence with some
high school teachers in Melbourne, Australia who are teaching Filipino there.

“I also found out that there are Filipinos teaching Filipino in Malaysia, Brunei and
Beijing. In Beijing, there is a masters’ degree program in Filipino. In Gaida University
in Osaka, Japan, there is a Philippine Studies program, major in Filipino, and it sends
students to take higher level courses in Filipino to the University of the Philippines.
“In the University of Hawaii, I have a government-funded Fulbright program that sends
Fil-Am students to study advanced-level Filipino in Manila for 10 weeks.”

Teaching materials

Apart from identifying these programs and creating a global network of specialists in
Filipino, Ruth and her conference colleagues agreed to help each other with materials
for teaching courses on Filipino.

Right now, she said, there is a Consortium for the Advancement of Filipino started by
Dr. Teresita Ramos; there is a newsletter that informs and updates members about
developments and conferences. “In my case, I started an organization called the Global
Consortium for the Advancement of Filipino Language and Culture, which is another
network.

People want to study the Filipino language for different reasons. “In Germany and
France, the interest would be mainly for the children of women who married Germans
or French. I met some of them in 1997. There are volunteers who were teaching
Filipino as a church-based activity. The idea was to connect the children to the culture
of their mothers, as sometimes the mothers can’t speak German so well and the children
need to have conversations with their mothers.”

In Osaka, the interest in Filipino could be related to being able to use it in business and
work places where there are Filipinos. Maybe some Japanese students also take up
Philippine Studies in connection with their history. “We are part of the World War II
story of Japan, so they opt to learn Filipino, too,” she added.

2nd generation Filipinos

In Hawaii, Filipino is taught mainly for two reasons. One is for the younger ones to
learn the language of their fathers or grandfathers. “Before, children of immigrants were
not allowed to speak (any other language besides English) so they want to correct this.
The third-generation Filipinos want to learn to speak with their lolas and lolos.”

The other reason has to do with the history of immigrants in Hawaii. “The American
sugar barons who brought in Filipinos workers to the sugar plantations 1906 were
required to hire only those who could not read or write. This was to prevent the
workers from applying for jobs with other companies, since the working conditions in
the plantations were very oppressive. They were treated almost like slaves,” she said.

“There are a few Filipinos in Hawaii who are saying that Tagalog is marginalizing the
other languages in the Philippines. Which is untrue—historically or anthropologically,”
she argued.

“In the past, others claimed that there were more Cebuano or Ilocano speakers. But
today, Filipino is really the dominant language. My job is to find out how globalized
Filipino is at the secondary and tertiary levels.”

Language and culture

At the basic level, overseas Filipinos have found the means to teach Filipino language
and culture. In Boston, for instance, the doctors and nurses have established church-
based programs including a children’s rondalla that has released a DVD. But all the
teachers are volunteers, and there are no learning levels.

“However, in San Diego, California, would you believe there are 70 high schools that
teach Filipino as a ‘world language’? California even has an accreditation system for
those who would like to teach Filipino in high schools. I would like to bring that
system to Hawaii so that Filipino majors can earn credits to teach in high schools. I am
working on that now. I am also trying to standardize the curriculum so that high school
students can have at least basic knowledge of Philippine culture, and a basic literacy of
Philippine literature in Filipino. For instance, one basic canon of Philippine Literature is
Florante at Laura by Balagtas. Students must be able to pass basic exams on this
Tagalog work.

“You cannot learn a language without understanding its culture so I have developed
many courses. I have a course on Philippine films… on Filipino food, music and rituals.
Language and culture: they are like twins.”