Diversity in language no excuse for disunity

This is in response to Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco’s commentary titled “Is there still need for a national language?” (Opinion, 1/10/17)

To the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the sole government agency for the propagation of the national language and all Philippine languages, the answer to Yusingco’s question has always been obvious: For a multilingual and multicultural society, a national language is supremely necessary. It is a unifying factor in nation-building, and for it to be effective, it should be based on a native language instead of being replaced by a foreign substitute.

English may be the language preferred in business and government and by our college-educated middle class, and it has certainly spawned a profitable business-processing and IT industry, but it is not the language spoken and understood by most Filipinos.

The language spoken and understood by most Filipinos is Filipino, which is based on Tagalog and is now being enriched by its usage all over the archipelago and the gradual entry of words from other native languages. In other words, the prevailing lingua franca of the Philippines is Filipino.

Historical surveys bear this out. In the national censuses conducted from 1939 to 1980, the speakers of the national language increased from 4 million to 12 million, or from 25.4 percent to 44.4 percent of the entire Philippine population. The 1989 survey conducted by Ateneo de Manila University further showed that 92 percent understood Tagalog, the basis of the Filipino language, 83 percent could speak it, 88 percent could read it, and 81 percent could write in it.

In its own Nationwide Usage Survey conducted in 2014, the KWF used its Sentro ng Wika at Kultura extension offices in regional and provincial centers to interview 3,506 respondents composed of students, teachers, and family members who were 15-21 and 22-60 years old from 19 areas in Mindanao, the Visayas and Luzon. All respondents reported they used Filipino, and that 9,162 total members of their families spoke Filipino in various domains— home, community, office, school, marketplace, church and cell phones.

This is only the statistical proof. Linguistically, Filipino (and all our native languages) is part of the huge Austronesian language family that is spoken in the Pacific region from Madagascar to New Zealand. In terms of grammar, usage and language similarities, it is more natural to develop a national language on the basis of a native language.

Language is a complex issue, and the KWF can only fulfill its mandate by keeping in sight the unifying value of the Filipino national language. At the same time, our sense of nation must acknowledge, as well as enrich and enhance, our diverse linguistic heritage. We must celebrate diversity, but we must not use it as an excuse for disunity.

DR. PURIFICACION G. DELIMA, commissioner for the Ilokano language, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, [email protected]