Points revisited, o mga nais ipaalala

A while back, I wrote two articles on language — one almost a year ago, and the other published just last April. The first was almost an existentialist piece, bemoaning the fact that I was a stranger to my own language, and as such, written in Taglish to illustrate the point. Meanwhile, the second was written in straight English, a defense on our use of English here in the country.

Just to contextualize: Gusto ko talaga matutong magsalita sa wikang Filipino. At pagkatapos, Ilonggo, Bisaya, at Cuyunin naman. Pero isa-isa muna.

Since I can’t even think in straight Filipino yet.

Thus, in light of the (apparently never-ending) hullabaloo with regard to our issue on language and identity (and aside from the fact that, hey, Buwan ng Wika just concluded), allow me this indulgence in re-sharing thoughts from both aforementioned articles, this time brought to you in bite-sized, more easily digestible forms:

In this country — a third world former colony of the US — English sells. Sabihin man natin na second language pa rin ang Ingles dito at ginagamit lang naman ng kakaunting bahagi ng populasyon, the fact remains that English is the language for those who want to get ahead. Here, it’s no secret that affairs of business, government, education, medicine, science, etc. are all conducted in English. Small wonder, then, that our citizens are extremely marketable abroad. Kahit anong sabihin ng mga tao, the language barrier is still the first hurdle that has to be overcome before everything else — at least in terms competing internationally.

Truly, since almost everyone can speak and understand the tiniest fragments of English, it’s hard to imagine ever drawing the line on our continued usage of it in the near future. In fact, as we go further along the path of globalization, modernization, and all those other words usually equated with progress, English, as our country’s second language, can only be pushed to the fore.

That said, can you condemn someone as “un-nationalistic” for writing in English, when the topics they write about are the very social ills plaguing the country? And on that note, what is national identity anyway? Is there really any pure Filipino culture that can be salvaged from the colonial and neo-colonial wreckage? Also, we have more than 120 languages in the country, not to mention the vast array of regional dialects found throughout our archipelago. Is speaking and writing in English really that big an affront to being Filipino, when Tagalog in itself already implies marginalization for the other national languages?

Identity is a malleable thing, a social construct, if you will.

By now, we’ve appropriated English in such a way that it has actually become an underlying part of our culture, and not just the property of Britain or the US anymore. Sure, the words and rules of grammar and syntax that we practice are decidedly no different from that of the West. However, the English we use here is not the same as the English used there, in the same way that the English used in India is not the English used in England. Case in point: the special kind of accent Pinoys inevitably flaunt when speaking in English, as well as the way in which we’ve managed to invent a whole new lexicon through our use of Taglish and all other local combinations in between. Of course, let’s not forget the vibrant scene of our literature in English, arguably one of the more elegant, not to mention brilliant, manifestations of the way we’ve appropriated the language throughout history.

However, here’s the rub: our inclination and familiarity with the English language should always be taken with a grain of salt, or viewed as a double-edged sword. Pwede naman tayo maging ‘internasyonal’ na hindi kinukompromiso ang pagbibigay halaga sa sariling wika. Wala naman kasing masama sa pagpapakitang-gilas sa Ingles. Subalit, nagiging problema lang ito kapag ang wikang Filipino ay namamaliit kumpara sa Ingles, at kapag ang nagiging mentalidad ng mga tao (lalo’t na sa mga upper class) ay mas mainam mag-Ingles kaysa Filipino. Nakakatawa na nakakalungkot, kasi kung tutuusin, ang Ingles ay isang exogenous at imported na lengguwahe lamang. ‘Di naman talaga atin ‘to, pero mas nabibigyan natin ito ng prayoridad because it sells and because of the influx of cultural products from abroad.

That’s the sad reality of our language here. Even the most nationalistic and well-intentioned educators generally use English as their default language in teaching, (at least here in Manila), usually only switching to straight Filipino in those classes that actually call for it. And given everything I’ve said above, this is normal in our society. Pati sa iba’t ibang klase ng midya, print, radio, TV, at kung ano pa man, ang paggamit ng Filipino ay nalilimitado sa gags, tsismis, sensasyonal na drama, at yellow journalism in general (not including GMA and ABS-CBN’s primetime news, but still), habang ang Ingles ay nakareserba para sa mas pormal at mas mataas na lebel ng diskurso (o para rin sa mga poseur na DJ nagkukunwaring Amerikano).

On the bright side, we can note that English remains as the language of our “intellectual” makeup, and not the deeper, truer reaches of our emotional makeup.

In an ideal, parallel universe, I wouldn’t be writing in Taglish and we wouldn’t ever have to celebrate Buwan ng Wika. The former is pretty self-explanatory, and the latter should be too. The fact that we actually have to designate a month to celebrate our national language says a lot about how we actually view Filipino as a mode of communication. Ano ngayon, gagamitin lang ang wikang Filipino dahil Agosto ang itinakdang buwan para dito? Think about it.

Many have said this in better, more dignified terms than me, but I have to stress it again — namamatay lang ang isang sibilasyon sa pagkamatay ng kanyang wika.

Huwag natin pabayaan na mamatay ang wikang Filipino.