If the poor carabao could only talk back

One pines for inspiration from Aesop whose creatures were gifted with personification, say, the much maligned carabao being able to talk back. It's a pity for the carabao as beast of burden, the uncrowned national animal to the farming folk, to be the butt of unfair barb.

In Erap's heyday as the self-anointed man of the masses, he nursed this claim by gimmickry, speaking in broken or slanted English to endear himself to the "common tao". Thus, the term "carabao" English.

"Carabao" English might have another etymology, but it was the Erap version that gave it life. While Erap really articulates in passable English, his grasp of the language is flawed and, plays up the "carabao" ploy as a cover-up of his inadequacy.

Historically, from the pioneering Thomasites who baptized the Filipinos in English, we've claimed as tops in English communication skills, save for the Americans and British themselves

Filipinos enjoy an edge in employment overseas, such as, domestics, sailors, caregivers, professionals, and varied artists and artisans. Our "export" of human resources, or a diaspora of talent overseas resulting in the "brain drain", is also the saving grace as our "export" income of $12B in 2005 that shored up our dollar reserves.

But, our dexterity in English has gone awry, as evident in annual test statistics wherein Filipino students/pupils are sinking near the bottom. Even in the basics of grammar and correct usage which the Readers Digest calls as "short sleeve" English, teachers and learners have collectively shown deterioration in quality over the years. Our language communication skills - if not already "unskilled" - are intractably getting more fractious and more fractured, both as spoken and written.

In tri-media, especially the print and TV, it is no longer surprising to come across blunders of broadcasters/TV hosts, and press reporters with repetitive frequency, so common among the new crop of so-called journalists.

And to compound the harm on young students and average patrons who take at face value what they hear, view, and read as gospel truth, there's no more errata SOP aired or publicized by harried editorial staff who just hurriedly puts the paper to bed. Such disdain for propriety and perfection is worsened by repeated "slaying" of the king's language as if repetition of errors makes them right.

Getting back to the poor carabao as the butt of the ungrammatical and bastardized English. If only so gifted with speech, the carabao would have sassed in pique: We're the beasts of burden plowing our masters' fields, pulling the sleds loaded with rural necessities, transporting the kids on our backs or on sleds to and from school during rainy days when barrio pathways are muddy and slippery only to be demeaned with the unflattering "carabao's English" for the blunders not of our making.

Particularly the very useful "gatasan" - from "gatas" or milk - that breeds many calves over the years, they also give extra income to their "amo" or master with milk that's concocted into delicious "kiso" (cheese) or "kisiyo". And, when no longer serviceable as work animal, the carabaos still derive income as they are sold for slaughter for their meat.

For the overall usefulness of the carabao in the agricultural economy, and to the individual farming rural folk, the carabao ought to be loved as a pet, rather than be rashly insulted, not even in jest.

Perhaps, the pitiable carabao would end its soliloquy, like: While I don't claim to be a hero, I don't also deserve the indignity of the negative "carabao English" appellation.