12 Reasons to save the National Language

The Philippines holds the disreputable distinction of being the only country in the world where the
national language is extolled for a month, only to be dismissed for the rest of the year as unworthy of
recognition as the official language of communication and primary medium of instruction.
Some citizens – victims of what Renato Constantino labeled as (neo)colonial “miseducation” – even have
the gall to demand the use of English language or a regional language as the country’s language of
communication and medium of instruction, despite the fact that Filipino has been the national language
since 1935!

Worse, Filipino subjects have been obliterated through Commission on Higher Education/CHED
Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 20, Series of 2013. Hence, instead of celebrating this year’s National
Language Month (Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa), everyone is requested to help turn the tables against the
enemies of our beleaguered national language.

Allow us to enumerate a few compelling reasons why Filipino should be used as medium of instruction in
college and why Filipino subjects must be included in the college curriculum.

1. Filipino as medium of instruction at all levels is a mandatory provision of the Philippine Constitution
(Article XIV, Section 6): “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino.... 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.”

It is thus abominable that most government agencies use English as their main language of official
communication, and most universities are still reluctant to progressively implement the Filipinization of
the curriculum.

2. Using Filipino as a medium of instruction in college will only be effective if Filipino is taught as a
subject/discipline too.

3. In the era of globalization and imminent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration,
Filipinos should further strengthen their own language, literature, and culture as part of our contribution
to the project of global and regional socio-cultural integration. For what can we contribute to the global
and regional projects of integration if we have no language nor culture to share with the world and
ASEAN?

4. Expanding and further developing what students have learned in junior and senior high school is
necessary. Hence, there is a need for at least a Filipino subject in college, as a number of
subjects/disciplines in the senior high school curriculum – such as English, Arts Studies, Political
Science, Science and Math – have parallel or related subjects in the new General Education Curriculum.
Why obliterate Filipino in college when other subjects/disciplines are included in both the secondary and
tertiary level curricula?
 5. Skills for Filipino language and Philippine literature are included in the College Readiness Standards
(CRS) contained in CHED’s Resolution No. 298-2011, hence including Filipino language and literature
subjects in college is a must, if the CRS is to be genuinely useful. Such subjects will ensure that skills
learned in high school will be further developed in college.

6. The National Achievement Test (NAT) results for Filipino in high school are still below the
Department of Education’s own standards for mastery, considering that the highest national mean
percentage score for Filipino has never breached 52% in recent years. Hence, retaining Filipino as a
college subject will ensure that the necessary task of improving students’ facility of the Filipino language
beyond the secondary level is accomplished.

7. The content of the Filipino senior high school curriculum cannot cover all content and skills currently
taught in college.

8. Filipino is the national language and language of political democratization as it is spoken by 99% of the
population. It is the most effective language of national public discourse. It is the soul of our country’s
identity and culture. Songs, poems, speeches, essays, stories in Filipino unite us as a people. Giving our
national cultural heritage some space in all levels of education is a must. Obliterating it is obliterating
ourselves and our collective identity.

9. In K to 12 countries such as the United States of America, Malaysia, and Indonesia, national language
and/or literature are part of the mandatory core courses in their college curriculum.

10. Filipino subjects designed in a multi/interdisciplinary way are feasible, as proven by the dozens of
proposals submitted to CHED by various institutions and organizations.

11. The inclusion of the national language in the college curriculum is a relatively new thing, compared
with the inclusion of the English language and literature in the college curriculum. English was imposed
as the sole medium of instruction in 1906 and it still enjoys over-all supremacy in most tertiary level
institutions. Meanwhile, Filipino in college has been effectively institutionalized only in 1996. It is about
time this historical injustice is remedied.

12. Filipino is a global language taught in more than 80 schools, institutions, and universities abroad (in
some cases, full bachelor’s degree and/or master’s degree are also offered). Obliterating the space for
Filipino and Philippine Studies at the tertiary level in Philippine colleges and universities will certainly
negatively affect the status of Filipino as a global language.