Filipino or Pilipino or Tagalog?
Sometime last week the Batasan gallery was treated to a heated debate about language. The spectacle was not quite as raucous as brawls in the Taiwan legislature but it raised some sticky problems which remain unresolved. Concretely the problem centers around the question: What is our national language?The 1973 Constitution, through Article XV, Section 3, made a distinction between “Pilipino,” which together with English was made an “official language,” and “Filipino,” which was envisioned as the “common national language.”
The “Pilipino” referred to was actually the Tagalog commonly in use as distinct from the pure Tagalog of literary writers. Together with English, Pilipino was, under the 1973 Constitution, the official language. “Official language” means the medium of communication for all official acts of or transactions with the various departments and agencies of the government. Moreover, by Presidential Decree No. 155, Spanish continued “to be recognized as an official language in the Philippines for as long as important documents in government files were in the Spanish language and not translated into either English or Pilipino language.”
“Filipino,” on the other hand, was seen by the 1973 Constitution as a language yet to be developed. Consisting of a fusion of the various existing Philippine languages, it was envisioned as the “common national language.” It was hoped that it would be symbolic of the Filipino nation and expressive of the Filipino soul. It was also expected to become the official medium of communication.
Major changes were made by the 1987 Constitution. The debate in the Batasan last week was a reverberation of what transpired during the deliberations of the 1986 Constitutional Commission.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the basic policy on language is stated in Section 6 of Article XIV. It says: “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages. Subject to provisions of law and as the Congress may deem appropriate, the government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system.”
As can be seen, Filipino, which was seen as a dream by the 1973 Constitution, is now categorically declared the “national language.” While the 1987 Constitution has retained the distinction between Filipino and Pilipino, it in effect has demoted Pilipino, the more developed language, in constitutional stature. In its stead, Filipino has been made the national and official language.
This did not go unnoticed on the floor of the Commission and it prompted a Cebuano Commissioner to ask whether the command of the 1973 Constitution to the Batasan to develop Filipino as a national language had already been accomplished. In reply, linguistic experts were cited as saying that even prior to 1973 Constitution Filipino was already a lingua franca though not popularly known as Filipino. Whereupon a defender of Filipino obliged with a demonstration. He said: “[W]e are referring to the masses of our people—the ones we came in contact with in our public hearings. They are the ones who say, ‘Sain kayo maglakad tapos dini?’ instead of the purist saying ‘Saan kayo magtutungo pagkatapos dito?’ But we understand what they mean when they say, ‘Mas guapo giud ang bana ko sa bana mo’ or ‘Guapo kuno ang kanyang amiga’ or ‘Yawa kawatan pala ang soltero’ or ‘Huwag ka man magtapon sa road’ or ‘Mayroon pa ngani.’ These speakers of the lingua franca throughout the country make themselves clearly understood because consciously or unconsciously, they use words that most Filipinos can comprehend.”
If that is a sampling of the language which embodies the Filipino soul, it makes you wonder what the Filipino soul looks like!
The Constitutional Commission, however, was quite aware that Filipino, as illustrated above, was undeveloped and undergoing evolution. Hence the second sentence of Section 6 adds: “As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.” Hence, too, the second paragraph of Section 6 is very tentative in referring to Filipino as “medium of official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system.”
Section 7, however, categorically makes Filipino the official language for purposes of communication and instruction while tolerating English also as official language “until otherwise provided by law.” In effect , too, the second paragraph reduces Pilipino, together with other regional languages, to official “auxiliary media of instruction.” Likewise, the promotion of Spanish has been reduced to optional effort in the same way as Arabic. These last are in recognition of the special role Spanish has played in Philippine history and of the affinity of large segments of the South to Arabic.
So, when Congressman Lopez spoke at the Batasan in celebration of Linggo ng Wika, did he speak in Filipino, Pilipino or Tagalog?
