By Ernie C. Turla

Our languages in the Philippines, except of course for Tagalog, have been on the verge of deterioration for the past half a century or so. Not because people don’t want to use them, but because they have been relegated to the background in the country’s vision to have a united people speaking a national language based on one of the major ones. What has happened is that, instead of uniting the peoples, this phrase of the Constitution even created an estrangement among the many ethnolinguistic groups (excluding the new generation who have been, according to some experts, brainwashed and with little hope for a reversal of attitude) who suddenly realized that their indigenous languages were being grossly neglected and on their way to possible extinction.

Death of native tongue

For the speakers of various vernaculars are being made to be like the proverbial lemmings impulsively marching into the sea of death, and if the pattern of their fatal journey is not stopped on time, the next century would find all their progeny devoid of their native languages, as well as the culture such languages are embedded in. Then there wouldn’t be any Kapampangan, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Karay-a, Aklanon, Bikolano, Pangasinan and Ilokano-speaking peoples anymore. With the advent of modern technology and sophisticated communication systems, the time frame for their demise could even be shorter. Of course, by that time, who would still care for such languages, given the indoctrination our youth are receiving today from our great educational institutions, starting from kindergarten through graduate school? Their feelings won’t for sure be the same as ours, the flame of our present pride for such languages having withered in their hearts completely in the years before that. As planned and designed as such, they would be using only one language – a language they did not inherit from their parents or from the region they were from, but from the schools that inculcated it to them.

Out of place

“The others”, as I refer to the seven other major languages, don’t get promoted by the National Language Commission, and so don’t get an equal change in language propagation. Their speakers are denied the right to learn them even on their own turf. As early as the tender age of six, when the child has not even developed a full vocabulary of his own native language, much less developed any love or loyalty to it, he is already formally exposed to other languages, Tagalog in particular. As a result of this, he is able to write in Tagalog and in English, but not in his own language. And then to cap the wanton mockery, it is in college where he is given the option to take Cebuano, Ilocano or Kapampangan as a course along with Spanish and other foreign languages, and at that stage of life he already probably can deliver an eloquent speech in Tagalog, while he is just starting in his study of his own language! How pathetic! “The others” have really fallen from grace with their indigenous speakers. Right in their own region they lose credibility and respect. Right in their own domain they are shoved and made to feel out of place. This policy is repugnant to fairness, and is an insult to the pride of the minority peoples.

Sad History

We need “die-hards” – those with fiery determination to help check this injustice subjected upon the entire non-Tagalog regions of the Philippines. We need legislators who believe in preserving language diversity, or cultural diversity – those who think that one language should not be enhanced and promoted at the expense of “the others” which go closer and closer to the brink of extinction. Looking into the future in a crystal ball, we see our own native languages in museums and in historical archives, well preserved – no doubt about that, like the works of taxidermists displayed for all the world to see. Still living and breathing the fresh air in their native regions? No, they are now dead languages preserved like prize souvenirs by the same hunters that had killed them with no mercy, as dead as the head trophy of a deer nailed on the wall above your fireplace. They used to be vibrant and brimming with life and enjoying their proud existence in the tongues of their speakers. But now they’re gone and are now just relics showcased in an exposition enter – a despicable proof of just how society in its ambitious effort to promote one language at the expense of “the others” could be so insensitive in its ways. And would linguists try to revive them like what they have done recently to Hebrew and Latin? With not as much historical significance as those two, our languages, once lost, won’t ever be revived. They would forever be history. And their story would end with the line, “And so it came to pass… that out of more than a hundred languages in the Philippine archipelago, at least one has heroically survived, thanks to the noble efforts of the National Language Commission and the Department of Education.”

Take your part

Now let’s go back to the present time and give this issue much thought. Do you want to save that language inherent in you, or don’t you care if it’s going to slip away? Are you the type of person who would instigate a rally to lionize it and be lauded as the champion of its triumph in surviving?

If you want it to become immortal like the ever-continuing existence of humanity on earth, be a part of DILA (Defenders of Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago) and participate in its discussions, conferences and workshops. It needs your unwavering support in its strife to accomplish monumental aspiration only regional nationalists like we can initiate. As its founder and acting moderator, I can assure you with pride and candor that you will be amidst a gathering of intellectual giants and luminaries, many of whom are pillars in their own fields. We have noted linguists and historians, professors and educators, computer experts and webmasters. We have vernacular poets, newspaper columnists, as well as authors of dictionaries, of a Philippine history book, of a Palanca-winning novel, of a book containing thought-provoking essays such as Ethnic Cleansing and Manila Colonialism, and of a soon-to-come-out book entitled, A Nation of Our Own. We have an illustrious painter who is also a host of a local radio program, an English literature professor, a promising student in linguistics, a mathematics teacher, a former school district supervisor, a former PNB manager and even a brain surgeon. And what’s more, we also have Americans and a host of other knowledgeable foreigners who have joined our bandwagon to help fight for our cause. These people, despite their differences in background and life endeavor, all share a common characteristic: a passion for languages, and specifically a strong commitment and sterling dedication to help protect such languages from decadence and eventual extinction. And our indomitable spirit, along with our pride, our hopes and sense of loyalty, is what holds us together and is the mainstay that unites us in this dream.

Hand in hand

Now going back to the main topic, let me emphasize that the crying need of the hour, as members of this group, is to put all our resources together and surge onward in our relentless struggles for reforms in language policy. It’s now or never. If nothing is done during this century, the winds of change will blow all our languages away, and the castles of our cultures too will be blown. That’s how doomed our indigenous languages are in the present situation they are in. While our fellow native speakers are either being happy-go-lucky in their attitude or are busy with their daily lives or just leisurely basking in the sun obviously oblivious of what is going on, and our own provincial boards and congressmen concentrate on other matters, maybe economic or political, the health and lives of our minority languages hang in the balance and are at stake. We just can’t wait for them to reach a moribund state like the indigenous languages in other parts of the world especially in North Americawhere there are now only a handful of speakers left to perpetuate the existence of their languages. To many, the scenario looks like the last picture show for their dying languages – and their culture. Of 6,000 languages now still spoken worldwide, more than half are predicted to sing their swan songs during this century.