Removal of Filipino Subject in College: Put it into Motion

A national language that is accorded importance gives a sense of identity and unity among a
people of different ethnicities and dialects which is what the Filipino people are (Jimeno, 2014). In the
country, Filipino is used as the official medium of communication and language of instruction in schools.
To empower the said language, Filipino is taught as a subject in primary up to tertiary level of education
across the country. However, a Memorandum Order has been released by the Commission on Higher
Education (CHEd), CMO No. 20 Series of 2013, stating the removal of Filipino and Panitikan in the core
college subjects. The order was then motionless not until this month of November 2018 where the issue
was once again raised and put into stir. This time, it has been highly controversial to Filipinos earning
various opinions, arguments, and discussions.

The removal of Filipinos as subjects in college is part of the new General Education Curriculum
(GEC). There are certain points of arguments that the memorandum order shouldn't be put into action.
Nevertheless, this CMO will be beneficial to college students, the education system, and the future of
the country itself.

Firstly, college students should be hands-on and more focused on their chosen career fields or
area of specialization, so it is important that they should be taking up subjects that will relate and
contribute to what they're about to face after college— to be job-ready and globally competitive.
Additionally, according to Madriaga (2017), the revised general education curriculum, part of the K-to-12
program, aims to expose college students to various domains of knowledge and ways of comprehending
social and natural realities, developing in the process intellectual competencies and civic capacities. This
supports the college students to take up complex and major subjects more seriously and
comprehensively.

Secondly, this aims to risen up the standard of future graduates and professionals. The intention
is pure as CHEd wants job-ready graduates— skilled and specialized. They should now remove the basic
units in the tertiary level and let the future employees focus on their skills relevant to the job market
(Madriaga, 2017). In connection to this, college students undergone twelve (12) years of general
education subjects which include Filipinos, so it is expected that when they enter college, they're good
with those subjects already if not mastered. Moreover, the additional two (2) years in the K-to-12
program would be all for nothing if the said subjects will be taken up again in college resulting to
redundancy and a waste of time and effort.

Thirdly, the future of the Philippines is in the hands of the youth. It will be the country's benefit if
the college students will be led to a more globally competitive track through a good supervision of
action of the college curriculum.

Lastly, to answer the claim of many that Filipino people should put importance with the national
language, the memorandum that was issued was only to abolish Filipino subjects, not the Filipino
language itself. To support this, Madriaga (2017) said that removing Filipino subjects in college
curriculum would not be an 'attack against the national language since Filipino is highlighted on senior
high school. She added that Filipino is widely used in the country; in fact it is the medium of
communication, so the national language would not be affected if it is abolished in the tertiary level.

Removing the Filipinos as subjects in college will be beneficial to students and the country's
future. People should start thinking outside the box and not overthink as this order has a pure intention
for everybody. It does not mean that the language will be ignored and undervalued. People in charge
with authorities are just trying to think rationally and practically considering the education system the
college students are currently in.

References:

Aning, J. & Torres-Tupas, T. (2018). SC: Filipino, ‘Panitikan’ no longer core college subjects. Retrieved
from: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1052447/sc-filipino-panitikan-no-longer-core-college-
subjects#ixzz5Woh3VuFY

Jimeno, R. L. (2014). Deleting Filipino as college subject. Retrieved from:

http://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/155774

Madriaga, R. (2017). Filipino subjects should be excluded in the college curriculum (A Position Paper).
Retrieved from:
https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/filipinokto12pioneers.wordpress.com/2017/09/22/filipino-subjects-
should-be-excluded-in-the-college-curriculum-a-position-paper/amp/

Marquez, C. (2018). CHEd to study SC decision to exclude Filipino, Panitikan from college curriculum.
Retrieved from: https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/newsinfo.inquirer.net/1053688/ched-to-study-sc-
decision-to-exclude-filipino-panitikan-from-college-curriculum/amp