History of the Filipino Language

The existence of a national language in one country promotes national unity and geographic and political solidarity. It is by this reason that a search for a national linguistic symbol began.

Just like any other languages, Filipino, our national language, has gone through a lot of stages to become what it is today.

Having a national language was first conceived as early as 1925 when Manuel L. Quezon recalled Rizal's feeling of frustration for not being able to communicate with a fellow countrywoman while on a boat bound for Europe.
[Please see Diversity in Cultural Groups and Dialects in the Philippines, p. A 7]

It was during the Commonwealth period that our search for a national language was first recognized officially. In Section 3, Article XIII of the 1935 Constitution, The National Assembly shall take steps toward the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing languages.

The chief agency for the creation of the development of a common national language is the Institute of National Language (INL), which was established through Commonwealth Act No. 148 in November 19, 1936.

A director, executive secretary and seven members compose it.
The group was to make a descriptive and comparative survey of one of the major dialects namely, Tagalog, Kapampangan, Waray, Ilokano, Bikolano, Hiligaynon and Pangasinan. From these, one would be chosen, to become the basis of the national language.

After ten months of study, the members chose to recommend Tagalog as the basis of the national language. Tagalog was heavily favored because it has the most number of highly developed literatures and was considered as the best-studied language during that time. The national language based on Tagalog dialect came through Executive Order No. 134 on December 30, 1937.

Two years later, on December 30, 1939, Tagalog officially became the National Language of the Philippines. However, many opposed the decision especially the non-Tagalog speakers.

The Cebuanos, under the leadership of Paulino Gullas, came to present Cebuano as an alternative to Tagalog. The biggest objection comes from the fact that in terms of numbers of speakers, Visayan has an overwhelmingly large number of speakers than the Tagalog.

The post-war period was the period of propagation for Tagalog, but opposition against Tagalog arose during the 1960's when INL rejected the orthography of Geruncio Lacuesta, a lawyer and editor of a magazine called KATAS. Lacuesta questioned the 20-letter alphabet, the orthography and the vocabulary. Above all these, he demanded a distinction between the vernacular Tagalog and the National Language. It seemed to him that Pilipino was nothing more but a change of name that he called as the purist form of Tagalog[4]. Lacuesta served as the spokesman of the non-Tagalog’s who felt inferior because of Tagalog dominance. They felt that with the choice of Tagalog as the national language, it made them second-class citizens in their own country.

On December 23, 1971, the committee: on National Language adopted the proposal of the University of the Philippines known as the universal approach. This method proposed the adoption and development of a national lingua franca used all over the country as the National Language[5]. The non-Tagalog delegates, who finally voted Filipino into the constitution, finally adopted this proposal.

On August 13, 1979, through Department Order No. 7, the national language referred to as Pilipino to impress upon the national language the indelible character of the Filipino nationhood. It is in effect nationalizing what once was a regional dialect[6].

The INL also published books that provide guidelines and models for drafting official letters in Pilipino. Translations of official documents into Pilipino were also done, like that of the 1973 Constitution. The Institute likewise conducted seminars and workshops for teacher training.

It was in the 1987 Constitution when our search for a National Language when it made the following declaration in A1ticle XIV, Section 6: "The National language of the Philippines is Filipino."

"Unlike Pilipino, which is based on one native dialect, the term Filipino used in the above constitutional provision has a multilingual basis.

It is a language that developed and continues to develop by accepting and adopting many elements especially words, from different Philippine and other foreign languages such as English and Spanish in particular.

At present, Filipino is used almost exclusively as the lingua franca throughout the entire archipelago. It can be made to perform all the functions that a modem language, like English or French, is made to perform, as a medium of instruction in all subjects; and as a language or research, science and technology.

Dramatic progress in the use of Filipino in our education and government is sure to come our way in the coming years.

The optimistic forecast on the future of Filipino is bolstered by the provision in the 1987 Constitution, quoted below, which ordains our government and education: Subject to provisions of law and the Congress may deem appropriate, the government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of instruction in the educational system.[7]

[1] Hayken, Joseph Ralston. The Philippines: A Study in National Development. New York: McMillan 1942. p. 583.
[2] Gonzales, Andrew B. Language and Nationalism. p. 71.
[3] Gonzales, Andrew B. Language and Nationalism. p. 75.
[4] Gonzales, Andrew B. Language and Nationalism. p. 107-108.
[5] Gonzales, Andrew B. Language and Nationalism. p. 141.
[6] Gonzales, Andrew B. Language and Nationalism. p. 102.
[7] Constantino, Ernesto. What is Filipino? p. 3-8.