www.soriano-ph.com

LINK: ‘Note Verbale‘, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Section) - 26 August 2007 Issue

Language is the basic norm that defines a society. It is the building block of every community. 

Language plays an important part in the evolution and consolidation of culture. And every time a sovereign nation is born, a common language ordinarily understood and spoken by the people becomes an integral part of the process that defines national identity. Just like the flag and other state symbols, language is always the source of national pride in most countries around the world.

Never mind if foreign visitors or travelers, who are unable to speak, read, or understand the language in country destinations like Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, Arab states and all other countries that earnestly take pride of their own native tongue, are inconvenienced by the practice. If it is obligatory for foreigners to obey and respect the laws of country destinations, why cannot they oblige themselves to adapt to a foreign national language?   

First world countries like the United Kingdom and the United States have conquered the world efficaciously by consciously or unconsciously influencing people from all walks of life to use English as a standard medium of communication, in the same way that most Latin American counties are predominantly Spanish-speaking because of conquest and people of Chinese descent continue to use their native tongue wherever they are because of their affinity. The extension of these languages to foreign jurisdiction is surely a source of continuing pride to the country origin.

Except for France and its neighboring nations and former territories, the French language has not shown a similar type of dominance in present-day communication. But the French has managed to keep their language officially recognized in international bodies and proceedings like that of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, and thus enable them to preserve French pride.

Perhaps it a mere coincidence that countries that do not adopt English as an official language but take significant pride of their own national language, like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Greece, Israel, Sweden or Portugal, are considered and classified as nations with advanced economies. The only plausible conclusion that can be derived here is that embracing a national language even in a parochial sense is never a hindrance to development and progress.

The Philippine Constitution declares that the country’s national language is ‘Filipino’. But for purposes of communications and instructions, both Filipino and English are recognized as official languages, until such time that a law is passed limiting the official language to Filipino. The same constitution has tasked government to take steps to make of it as a medium of official communication and as a language of instructions in the educational system.

‘Filipino’ as a language has yet to attain a definitive direction. At the moment, Filipino is simply the usual standard version of Tagalog, one of the more than a dozen major regional languages or dialects used all over the country by over a million Filipinos.

The shortfall of the country’s policy and resolve on the eventual evolution of Filipino as a national language is that it is a false hope and a dream that would never come to fruition. 

Since the adoption of the Constitution in 1987, government never lifted a finger to take serious efforts to make Filipino as a medium of official communication and instruction in schools. There are also some misgivings and criticisms from various regional ethnic groups to make Filipino predominantly Tagalog based. In the meantime, Filipino workers are tasked to brush up on their English to land jobs abroad and in call centers. Meanwhile also, Filipino families adopt the language or dialect best suited to them within the comfort of their homes.

The net effect of the current scenario is to have more and more Filipinos who are poor in both English and Filipino. Hence, “taglish” (an informal mix of Tagalog and English) was born and has almost permanently evolved as the unofficial national language.

If language is a measure of national identity and pride, it is a source of great wonder how the Filipinos would fare. If the evolution of a national language is the product of a people’s way of life, the country might as well discard both English and Filipino as official languages and give way to ‘Taglish’. 

Right now, the Philippines is ‘neither here nor there’.