Ill lilt• 1'(1111111,Y !1111111 do l,il11•r·nl1• liitlltHH'IV(','I, (llll'IWlvt•!i, 1' ·0111 lc>lt'll\!

1 �"11il ( l11I
1
J\i > l'l•:Nl)IX {
n11d \t� 111\11:IJW :111<1 rl'I 111 11 Io 1•0111111�11111y worldv 11•w .i 11d l11111\1111,:11.
_ _
I !us is d1II1<"ul1 to do, Pspc1·1ully sine<' w1• nn• :,;o u:,;1•d 10 1•:11Hli1 1!1 c l i l111 1
Ach�•bc �ho _ :tis? prnblematized the use of'l:u1guag'c lws lwl'n fon·1·d I ( I t(IH' 1•: 1111I 11
Urn Just1cat1on 1s "the unassailable logic ofits conven ic11cc."
l:lut ifwc contin ue Lo be seduced by this conveniPncc, wl 1 aL will l l!1 pp1• 111u 1111
owr� communities? To our country? Will it not perpetuate the situ:11io11 1 11 1 I i , 1 I 111
Something Weird Happened
havrng_a head b�lt no body, and ourmasa, having the body but no !wad'?
It is �1�gh t1�e we wri!e stories, poems, novels, dramas directed lu rn 11 11w,,
co �mumt�es. It is high time we write in our own respective la11,r1111pi•11 I I r e
On T he Way To Nationhood:
a�d1ences m our communities are in the millions. Let us reach them. Lt'I 1111 i 111 j 11,
with them because they are our roots.
_ Only then �an writing be a truly libcrative art shared and underst oocl ! i v l l it
Revitalizing Regional Literatures3
entire commumty.
Let �s join the h �ad and the body of our community. Let u� rcimaiti 111111 111 \\I Victor N. Sugbo
co�mumty by restonng community. Let us first solve the horizonU r I :,;pl 1 1 A 111 1
this let us solve the vertical splits based on respect for and celcbntiou pl 11111
different Philippine worldviews and languages. hilippine literature has been a site of'contention. I.Ls litern t 11 r11H
Let us l �arn fr om the lumads and the powerful modern storyteller,; nntl p,1111 are in transition owing to recent policy clevclopmcmls 11 11d
who use theu· own worldviews and languages. moves of government and academics to relocate 1·01-(io1111I
literatures from a position of marginality. Two kine!." ol
Philippine literature exist: the mainstream Iitcru l 11 r1·11,
English and Tagalog, and the regional literatures, wrill 1" 1
in other Philippine languages. An effect of past and J)r<'111·11 t
national language policies, this division has persisted, caus11111
silent resentment of writers from the regions.
The term "regional literature" is a value-laden polit it-n I
concept. It locates communities, histories and cultures in subaltern positio11H.
Most of the time, it refers to the literatures ofthe Philippines at the margins, wbo:11•
growth has been marked by stagnation, discontinuity and neglect. lL likewi:H•
refers to those literatures which have remained largely oral and are on the• wny
to extinction because the languages they employ have a dwindling numlwr nl'
speakers.

Locating Regional Literature

This paper attempts to examine the location of contemporary regio111tl

literatures, particularlyWaray, Cebuano and Hiligaynon in relation to the pn•st iJ{I'
positions of Philippine languages. It likewise looks into government's educntionn I
and language policies and their effects on these literatures. It also describes effortH
of the government and academe to revitalize literary writing in the regions. Lu�11 ly,
it puts forth a few more proposals for the development ofregional literatures.
The data for this paper have been taken from materials on Philippi,1,,
sociolinguistics, existing surveys on regional literatures in the country, :111cl
personal experiences gleaned from my past work with the National Commission I<> r
Culture and the Arts, a government institution charged with planning, dcvclopi111!
and promoting Philippine arts and culture.

" Victor N. Sugbo, "Something Weird Happened on the Way to Nationhood." J> :ipnl'
read at the Seminar-Workshop on Proactive Responses to Language Issurs i,1 11111
Philippine Education and Development, UP Cebu, October 27-28, 2005.

644 0<11,
SA ATONG DILA SA ATONG DILA

'l'IIL· <IPvdop 11w111 of' n•p;ional lilt•1·atu 1Ts in the- t·m111 tr.v h 1111 .ilw 11v1 1,;, 11 II
to tlw preslil-(P statust•s oJ' our languag<•s. Out of'tht• ('ighl 1 111�jrn 1 111<1 11 i 1 H II' ii
languages, only Tagalog, besides EngJi:,;h, hus attn ined a posit 1rn 1 cot' I i iµl i 111 1 t
The rest ci �·culaL� as languages of' low prostigc. This .issig11 1nc•11I co l l'itilljct 11
languages mto high and low prestige languages did not huppc-11 l t v , l oc I
accident. Past national leaders, through our constitutions of' I D:lf,, I! t't;J 111111 111 r,
wrote and rewrote the provisions on official and national lu 11g1 1111:c• 1 1 1 ,11, 1 ,
a complex linguistic divide, on one side Tagalog (or Filipiuo) ,11 111 1,:11 1111 I i c 1 1
national and official languages, and on the other side the region,,I l1111 1i111q, 1 11 I
referred to as auxiliary or ancillary languages.
Initially Tagalog started as a low prestige language. Durintr 1111• II 1 1 I i , 11 I
the 1900s while the entire country, under American colonial ru I<', w11,111111 J,q ,•11!11
Anglicization through the public school system, Tagalog was 110wl 11111 111 111,
national consciousness. It was just one of the many Philippi11t • 1 11111•11,,
struggling to survive in the communities where they were spoken.'I'l l ,, 1111111 111 1111
languages at the time were Spanish and the local language, jnd1(i 111: I 1 0111 111 I
widespread use in the local newspapers. This was in keeping with I h i ' 111 11• ccll11
nationalist sentiment in the country. Their eventual replacement with 1,:,,1 II ii i ,
the medium ofliterary production and news reportage in the locnl p;q1111 ,, , t, 1 11 ,1
in the minds of the citizens an attitude that their own ethnic mothu1 10111 ,1.,, 111 11
become insignificant. This took place between the 1920s and 19:rn/l 1 11 l•,11 1,,,
Visayas. Outside their homes and immediate communities, the l<')('nl lr1111,,,.,1
had no legitimate place, even on a printed page. They lost their polili<"11I !II 1,111 1 I 1
the larger society.
Reading a printed page in English had a high premium for it indici1t <'ii I h 11 111
had high education and was cultured. Reading a printed page in one's C'I hII ic• 1111 ,i I 1, ,
tongue, however, indicated less education although to the more natio1111l 1 11, Ii
meant an affirmation of their cultural identity and the social legitimm·,v nl 11 11 11
languages. When the local newspapers finally gave way to English in tl11 • Ill I I,,
many viewed the local languages with disfavor. Western-oriented cclu<· 11 1 1 1111 1111I
the new valorization of English turned the young Filipinos unwittingly .i1:1111 1 11
themselves as they imbibed Western culture and literatures anrl r\1 11•11111 1 ,I
themselves from their own cultures, literatures and languages.
Tagalog rose to the status ofahigh prestige language onlywhen the govt' r 11 111,,1 1 I
in 1974 enforced its bilingual policy proclaiming it one of the official lu 11g11 'I'.•
of instruction in Philippine education, particularly in civics and social HI 11d 1,
The populace initially received this policy on Tagalog with many misg1v111,•
It took a number of years of policy implementation in education before '1'11 1(11 I, ,1
could finally attain a status of high prestige both as a national languagP 1 1 11cl ,,,.
mainstream language of communication. In the academe, Tagalog und<•1 w, 11 1
intellectualization and became a medium of discourse. Over time, with 11,,
growth of mass communication, it achieved a high degree ofrespectability, hII v I 11p
become the language of academic scholarship, publications, mass media, n Ii 111e 11111
of speakers, and an ever growing vibrant literature whose writers come fro111 1 I 1,
different regions of the country.
A number of factors contribute to the high prestige status of a language. Thc'lh
are government legislation, national acceptance, publication venues, su11p111 1
of academic institutions and mass media, and a robust literature. In the c·1,,11,
ot: other Philippine languages, this lack is pronounced. Languages like W11 ,·nv,
H1hgaynon and Cebuano persist as low prestige languages because they have 1wv111
been given the recognition and place in educational institutions. Neither do I he v
serve as languages of academic scholarship. For nearly half a century of ncgl<•••I,
these languages remain unstandardized and unintellectualized. What is wo,'ll<'
646 SA ATONG Du·"
11; thal 1l11 '1 r •1p .. 11 L,•1,, look 111 tlwir own 11th11it· 111 11111111 lo111t1 1 1•s 111 1d 1·1 ilt11r<' with
11\LIC'h disd 11111 1-11111'1' f'rrnu their J)t'l't'<'Pt 1011 I h1•s(: <·:1 111101 co11tJH1 l'l' 111 l'l('f(II 111·1• llll(I
cxpa11sivt•1w1-1i,; wil hthose of the West. In addition, the new ge1H'ralions of'spp11 i<c-1·:1
of these Ja1 1gu:q(t•s refuse lo learn about their respective c.:ultural his lol'i(•s 1 11 1d
literatures. The writers among them prefer Lo write poetry and fiction in eitli<·I'
English or Tagalog. If there arc any new writers in these languages, they n 1·e fi•w
and unknown.
The statuses of regional literatures follow the prestige hierarchy of' 01 11·
languages. The literatures in English and Tagalog, by virtue of the prom in0n<'<'
of their languages, become high prestige literatures and, as everybody knows,
the country's national literatures. They are the ones studied in the 1miversi1i<•s,
have many publication venues, possess a sizeable community of writers, rcnd<•rH
and critics. In contrast, those that do not have high status, by virtue ofhisLork 11I
and political circumstances, tend to be marginalized and regarded with IitI I<•
affection. Low prestige literatures such as Waray, Hiligaynon and Cebuano 1111d
other Philippines languages have few publication venues if at all. With few wrilL'l'.'l
and a relatively small community of readers, they do not constitute a study al'(:a i 11
the university as they are perceived not part of our national literature.
Revitalizing Regional Literatures
The revitalization of regional literatures is not an easy task. It rcqt1ir!'s
planning and shedding off of ethnocentric attitudes. Any plan, therefore, Lo
revitalize our literatures must begin with the recognition and acceptance that lo<":i I
literatures are also national literature and that linguistic diversity is just as vi ta I
as the economy in that it bestows respect to the different ethnic groups, provides
cultural vibrancy, and lays the foundation for political and social coherence whiC' h
the country sorely needs now.
A number of cultural processes need to be in operation to revitali7.c m1 r
regional literatures: institutionalization, providing locales for publication.
training of writers, and creation of audiences. Institutionalization here wonld
mean instituting atthe university level academic courses on thelocalliterature and
language ofthe respective regions. Although the Commission on Higher Education
has issued a policy to make the subject, "The Literatures of the Philippines," nu
academic requirement, the implementing guidelines give only a token treatment of'
the regional literatures. For this reason, the course requires re-emphasis-that is.
studying the literature(s) in the language(s) of the region where the learning is lo
take place. This implies reading ofliterary texts in the original language and usi111 1,
the locallanguage as medium ofinstruction. "The Literatures ofthe Philippines" is
comparatively the right step towards national recognition of regional literatu rrs.
This, however, is not enough. There is still the need to institute a separate course on
the local languages of regions in order to stabilize their orthographies, detcrm i 11!'
their grammatical rules and establish their morphologies. By doing so, regional
literatures and loca ! languages are legitimated as objects of serious discourse a1 1d
university study.
Unlike in the 1920s when publication of local poetry, fiction and essay wa:,
welcomed by the nationalistic newspapers, present local newspapers clo 1101
provide space for local literatures. At this point, passing a law that would rcqu ire•
community papers and local magazines to devote a page or two to publicizi11g
literature of the region would probably be in order. Should this materialize, tlwn·
could possibly be a resurgence of writing in the local languages and an expancli11g
readership to include a new generation of readers. The continuous publication ol'
the Bisaya magazine, for instance, has kept its readership and Cebuano writinn
alive. The same function has been served by Bannawag for Iluko literature 111
Northern Philippines.
SA ATONG DILA 647
 A government agency that has been actively involved in the revitaliznl l1111 1 t Gonzales, Andrew. "A Nation of Many Tongues." In Henry S. Totancs, eel.
regional literatures is the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. 'I'm lt1 d Kasaysayan. X. Manila: Asia Publishing Co., 1998. 264-265.
with the duty to promote and propagate Philippine arts and culture, it accon I pl I •ti 11 Hosillos, Lucila, ed. Hiligaynon L'iterature: Texts and Contexts. Quezon City: /\qu t1
this by publishing new literary works from the regions, organizint( I Ii 111111 1 Land Enterprises, 1992.
caravans and writers' workshops, giving local writers' awards for ot1t;;111,1cll11, Peralta, Jesus T. Glimpses: Peoples of the Philippines. Manila: Anvil Publishin1(,
literary achievement, and holding public readings ofpoetry, written by Jocu I 111,, I 2003.
in the universities and colleges ofmajor cities in the regions. The literary en, 1,v 11 Sugbo, Victor, ed. Illumined Terrain: The Sites and Dimensions of Philippin<'
in particular travel to distant towns in the regions, performing and st:tgl 111• t I, Literature. Manila: National Commission on Culture and the Arts, 1998.
works oflocal writers. They make townsfolk marvel upon hearing poetry I II I It , Sugbo, Victor. "Language Policy and Local Literature in the Philippines." Sl I,
ethnic mother tongues performed to them for the first time. International. Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development
Perhaps the most moving of these efforts to revitalize regional Iitt•11111111 Mahidol University and UNESCO Bangkok (2004). Accessed at http://www
involve the work of the writer academics, Leoncio Deriacla in Western Vl tc11v 1 .sil.org/asia/ldc/parallel presentations.html
Erlinda Alburo in Central Visayas, and Merlie Altman in Eastern Visayw,. I 11 I Ii Tollefson, James W. Planning Language, Planning Inequality. New York: Longman
manner of evangelists, they visit towns and universities to promote not 1•i,ll 111 .. 11 Inc., l.991.
but regional writing. Upon invitation, they hold writers' workshops or p111·111 I 11 11
in them as critics, with the aim of producing new writers in the local l:1111•,111q
They likewise teach literature teachers the pedagogy of literature. Wi I It I It c
leading the band of writers, Visayan regional writing has assumed a fn111i1111, I 1
and legitimacy. Of particular interest here is the work of Deriada whc, I Iii 1111111•
series ofwriting workshops has rekindled writing in two rarely heard In nn11111 1 II
Western Visayas, Kinaray-a and Akeanon. Allman has been training 1ww w1 ii, 1
in Cebuano, Hiligayanon, and vVaray whileAlburo does her part ofteachi 1111 w1 11, ,
in Cebuano and researching on Cebuano literature.
A potential threat to the revitalization ofregionalliteratures is L111i I 1111111l1d I 1
of works into national language. In an effort to make known wriLillH I, 11111 I I
regions, scholars and critics translate the literatures into Tagalog. 'l'lii 111•1111 11
project works against the very principle ofrevitalization inasmuch as i I t1111,, ,, 1, 1
the appropriation of the literatures into the realm of the nation:il 111111 1 11 I
consequently dampening the enthusiasm of local writers to write mo, 1 I 11 1 ll
ethnic mother tongues.
The development of regional literatures in the country hns 111'1 "1 I 11 1 l
uneven. The literatures in our major languages are a little better tli1111 t I 11 111 It
literatures because the former still have writers, readers, and com 11111111111 I
with the factors that sustain them, these literatures have stayed 11111q1111 ii
discriminated. Their development has been so slow that revitalizinl\ 1111 111 11
imperative in order for the literatures to flo urish and claim their rif(hl 1',il 1111 1
the terrain ofnational literature.
The cultivation ofregionalliteratures may not ask for a grand pln 11, I ,1111 , , 11
this objective requires a concerted effort of our lawmakers, publildw, 1 1 , 11
readers, the academe and media, and our national government. By 11<'11111111 I, I
the importance ofregional literatures and local languages in the 11n l i11111il , 11 II 111
our different loyalties may be welded since ethnicities are acconlc•d 11, 1 11 1 1
making national literature becomes a communal project. Finn Ily, 111 11111 1I
to attain nationhood, something weird took place-our country 10111 1111,
cultural memory. It is time to restore those pieces in the voices of 0111 111 ,, I 1
storytellers in the local languages.

References:

Bautista, Ma. Lourdes, ed. Readings in Philippine Sociolinguis/.ic-s. :J11d , 1I �I 1

De la Salle University Press, l.996.
Duque, Reynaldo A. "Writing from the Regions." In llcnry :1 'I 1111111
Kasaysayan. X. Manila: Asia Publishing Co., 1998. 22G :J:!'/