Pilipinas hindi 'Filipinas,' Pilipino hindi 'Filipino,' ayon sa KWF

Inihayag ng bagong pamunuan ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) na Pilipinas ang dapat na baybay
sa pangalan ng bansa, at hindi "Filipinas."

Inihayag ito sa pulong balitaan ni KWF Commissioner Arthur Casanova, pumalit sa dating pinuno ng
komisyon na si National Artist Virgilio Almario noong Enero 2020.

Sinabi ni Casanova na ang pagbabalik ng gamit na "P" sa Pilipinas ay napagkasunduan sa ginawang

pagpupulong ng mga opisyal ng komisyon.

Bukod sa pangalan ng bansa, "P" na Pilipino ang dapat na baybay sa pagtukoy sa mamamayan at kultura
ng Pilipinas.

Samantala, puwede namang gamitin ang "F," sa Filipino na tumutukoy sa lengguwahe o wika ng bansa.

Nilinaw din ng opisyal na maaaring gamitin ang "F" sa Filipino na pagtukoy sa mamamayan at
lengguwahe kung isusulat ito sa wikang Ingles.

Sinipi ni Casanova ang bahagi ng nakasaad sa Artikulo 16 ng Saligang Batas na nagsasabing: "Ang wikang
pambansa ng Pilipinas ay Filipino."

Binanggit din niya ang panimula o preambulo sa Saligang Batas na binanggit ang "sambayang Pilipino,"
na "P" bilang pagtawag sa mga mamamayan.

Ipinaliwanag noon ni Almario, na hindi niya binago, bagkos ay ibinalik lang niya ang orihinal na pangalan
ng bansa na Filipinas na tinawag na "Las Islas Filipinas" ng mga Kastila noong ika-14 siglo.

Ang "Pilipinas" umano ay ibinatay sa lumang alpabeto ng bansa, ang Abakada, na inalis sa sistema noong
1987.

Ang Filipinas ay nakabatay umano sa makabagong alpabeto ng Filipino na binubuo ng 28 titik.

What the PH constitutions say about the national language

AUG 7, 2014 11:32 AM PHT

1899 Malolos Constitution

Under the Constitucion Politica de Malolos, the constitution of the short-lived first independent
Philippine Republic, no single language was made compulsory in the Philippines except for Spanish but
only "in public and judicial affairs."

The full text of Title IX, Article 93 of the 1899 Constitution goes: “The use of the languages spoken in the
Philippines shall not be compulsory. It cannot be regulated except by virtue of law and only for acts of
public authority and judicial affairs. On such occasions, the Spanish language shall temporarily be used.”
The use of the Spanish language in the Philippines declined with the United States' annexation of the
Philippines in 1901 and the introduction of the American public education system,

1935 Constitution

Under the Americans, the Philippine Assembly launched numerous attempts to lobby for Philippine
independence. Their efforts culminated in 1934 with the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which led to the
foundation of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935.

When the constitution of the Commonwealth was being drafted, Camarines Norte Representative
Wenceslao Vinzons proposed the inclusion of an article on adopting a national language.

His proposal bore fruit in Article XIII, Section 3 of the 1935 Constitution, which directed the National
Assembly to “take steps toward the development and adoption of a common national language based
on one of the existing native languages.”

It also states that until otherwise provided by law, English and Spanish shall remain as the official
languages of the Philippines.

Pursuant to this, Commonwealth Act 184 established the Institute of National Language (INL) in 1936, to
study existing Philippine native languages and dialects and select one of them to be the basis of the
development of a Filipino national language.

In November 1937, following studies and numerous debates among experts and proponents of various
regional languages, the INL recommended Tagalog to be the basis for the national language of the
country.

This is based on expert opinion that Tagalog was found to be widely used and accepted by the greatest
number of Filipinos, and that it already has a large literary tradition.

Based on this recommendation, President Manuel Quezon issued Executive Order 134 in December
1937, which proclaimed that Tagalog shall be the basis of the country's national language.

In 1959, the Department of Education officially called Tagalog “Pilipino” to appease non-native Tagalog
speakers.

However, the label stuck to refer to a Tagalog-centric Philippine national language.

Due to the fact that a large majority of the Filipino population spoke other native Philippine languages,
the choice of a Tagalog-based national language sparked a still ongoing debate on the basis of the
national language of the country.

1943 Constitution

During the Second World War, the Japanese occupied the Philippines and established the Second
Philippine Republic.

Part of Japan’s plan for dominance in Asia was to remove western Influence from its occupied Asian
countries and to encourage local culture.

This is reflected in Article IX, Section 2 of the 1943 Constitution, which removed English and Spanish as
official languages and stated: “The government shall take steps toward the development and
propagation of Tagalog as the national language."

Like the Malolos Constitution, the 1943 Constitution was short lived. When Allied Forces liberated the
Philippines in 1945, the 1935 Constitution was reinstated.
However, with the constitution’s explicit mention of Tagalog, the 1943 Constitution furthered the idea
of Tagalog as the basis of the country’s national language.

1973 Constitution

In 1971, a year before President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law, a Constitutional Convention
began crafing a new constitution.

One of the contentious issues during the convention was the definition of the national language.

Tagalog advocates remained firm on a Tagalog-based national language, while a great majority of
delegates voted in favor of scrapping the notion of having a national language altogether.

The arguments came to a point that even the language used for the debates and the language of the
1973 Constitution became points of contention, with many voting for the use of the English language as
a compromise.

The 1973 Constitution ended up with a carefully-worded Article XV, Section 3, which states: “(2) The
Batasang Pambansa shall take steps towards the development and formal adoption of a common
national language to be known as Filipino. (3) Until otherwise provided by law, English and Pilipino shall
be the official languages.”

It was a compromise as it did not explicitly mention that Filipino was not to be based on Tagalog, nor did
it state that a Tagalog-based national language was to be abandoned.

Instead, it proposes the development of a language that shall be called “Filipino.”

Since the 1950s, “Pilipino” referred to the national language based on Tagalog alone.

By ordering the Batasang Pambansa (National Assembly) to “take steps to develop” a national language
to be known as “Filipino,” the 1973 Constitution introduced the idea that the Filipino national language,
though still with Tagalog as its nucleus, is a “work in progress” subject to further development.

The compromise however was met with criticism, as detractors of “Filipino” stated that the eventual
language to be developed would be artificial, lacking in both native speakers and literary tradition.

1987 Constitution

The current working definition of the Philippines’ national language is found in Sections 6 and 7 of
Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution, which was created following the ouster of Marcos.

Section 6 states: “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further
developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.”

Section 7, says: “For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines
are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.”

The 1987 Constitution’s definition of the national language takes the notion of Filipino from the 1973
Constitution even further – by explicitly recognizing that the national language is subject to change
through influence from local and foreign languages over time.

The definition also gives due consideration to the role of the other Philippine languages in shaping the
national language. It also replaced “Pilipino” with “Filipino” as an official language.

In addition, Section 9 orders the establishment of a national language commission, which will enhance
the language-formation role of regional languages through the representation of various regions and
disciplines in the body.
The task of this commission is to undertake, promote, and coordinate researches for the development,
propagation, and preservation of Filipino and other languages.

The commission came to be known as the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Commission on the Filipino
Language), which was established in August 14,1991.