Removing Filipino as a subject in

college: A betrayal in the name of

business?
Ina Alleco Silverio June 27, 2014 2 Comments

“Removing Filipino as a subject in the new GEC is not just a local issue; it is a moral issue that goes
against the integrity of our race.” – Prof. Patrocinio Villafuerte

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO

Bulatlat.com
“It made me realize that your mother tongue comes to you without any effort on your part. It is a dowry
that comes into your possession without you noticing. It is then judged by another language that has been
added later and that comes from somewhere else. Your mother tongue feels as direct and unconditional
as your own skin, and it is just as vulnerable if held in low esteem, treated with contempt, or even banned
by others.” -Herta Müller
College and university professors in Filipino are up in arms against the memorandum of the Commission
on Higher Education/CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 20, Series of 2013. The said memorandum
aims to remove Filipino as a subject to be taught in college by 2016 as part of the new General Education
Curriculum (GEC).

De la Salle professor in Filipino David Michael San Juan said that while the memorandum advocates the
teaching of subjects in the Filipino language, the Ched memorandum ensures that the study of Filipino as
a language by itself will cease.

“From the onset, this is a most unpatriotic action. The very idea of removing Filipino as a subject in the
higher levels of academic learning is unconscionable,” he said.

San Juan explained that the memorandum goes against the Article XIV Sections 6 and 7 of the 1987
Constitution which state that “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. Subject to
provisions of law and as the Congress may deem appropriate, the Government shall take steps to initiate
and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of instruction in
the educational system (Section 6). Section 7, on the other hand, states that for purposes of
communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise
provided by law, English.

Teaching Filipino in college is part of the implementation of Resolution No. 298-2011 of the Commission
on Higher Education (CHED) regarding the College Readiness Standards of the Philippines. Covered by
the same resolution are the minimum skills that students need to learn or master so that they could be
prepared for college. The CHED has named 16 skills in Filipino. These will all be rendered useless if
Filipino as a subject is no longer sustained and expanded.

“In many European countries, the United States and countries in Southeast Asia, subjects that focus on
the study of the national language are part of the General Education Curriculum (GEC) or its equivalent.
At the time when the so-called ASEAN Integration is taking place, Filipinos should be strengthening their
own language, culture and identity so they could contribute to the project of regional socio-cultural
integration. Strengthening the Filipino language in all levels of education is also part of preparations for
ASEAN integration, “San Juan argued.
The Filipino language professor explained that the national language is still quite young and it has yet to
be completely intellectualized or used in different fields.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ National Committee on Language and Translation
(NCCA-NCLT) has also spoken up on the issue. Earlier in May, the institution’s members unanimously
signed a resolution asking the GEC be revised again, but this time to include nine mandatory units of
Filipino for all courses at the tertiary level.

Another organization that promotes the use of Filipino, the Pambansang Samahan sa Linggwistika at
Literaturang Filipino, Ink. (PSLLF) also supports the NCCA-NCLT resolution by launching a change.org
petition, which asks the CHED and Congress to include the nine Filipino units in the GEC. The petition
was initiated by San Juan. One of the signatories of the petition, a Julie Hementera from Quezon City
posted this comment (translated) last June 15.

“The Ched’s reasoning that Filipino is already part of the curriculum in elementary and high school is not
enough. Why don’t they apply this reasoning to English? To extend the argument, students also learn
math and science in these levels, so should these subjects be removed as well? Second, this is clearly an
attempt on the part of our government to divide society and again remove the one language that can help
unite the people.”

“Ano ang gusto nilang wikang magbubuklod sa atin? Ingles? Chinese? Nihonggo? Sa palagay ko, Ingles
ang nais nila dahil sa ang mga nakaupo sa mga puwesto ngayon ay mga burgis. Inaakala nilang lahat ay
matututo ng wikang banyaga. Paano na ang mga matatandang henerasyon at ang bagong henerasyon
na hindi na ito ang kanilang intelligence? Hindi bihasa sa pag-aaral ng mga wikang banyaga. Hindi pa ba
naririnig ng mga namumuno sa edukasyon ang Multiple Intelligence? Ito ang hatid ng napakatalinong
desisyon ng gobyerno, ang pagwasak sa lipunang Pilipino. Palagay ko pansariling interes ang
nangibabaw sa desisyon na ito dahil burgis ang nakaupo. Hindi kayang gumawa at magsalita ng speech
sa wikang Filipino kaya mabilisang desisyon, tanggalin ang wikang Filipino.”

In a different online fora, members of the academe explained that the Filipino language is the key to
national unity and fostering understanding between all citizens in the Philippines. This, they argue, is why
it should continue to be taught. Research into the Filipino language, they demand, should also be
strengthened, and teachers in the tertiary level who teach the language should be supported with
resources and opportunities to do research on the language.

“The CHed should make Filipino as subject mandatory in the tertiary level because if the issue if left to the
whim of universities, they will either make it optional or not include it at all in the curriculum,” PSLLF
president Aurora Batnag pointed out. “It is in the higher levels of education that the intellectualization of
language takes place, this is needed to ensure that the language is used in all levels and disciplines,” she
said.

Batnag also said that the Ched memorandum and the K-12 program also serves to negate the struggle of
patriotic academics in the 1970s to ensure that six to nine units of Filipino be taught in college.

Based on the results of the June 12 dialogue, the teachers will again write to the CHed and call that it
formally convene a Technical Panel/Technical Working Group on Filipino and the General Education
Committee. The dialogue, they said, should include representatives of universities who assert the
necessity of having Filipino taught as a subject in the tertiary level.

On June 12, the Departamento ng Filipino of DLSU will hold a consultative forum-assembly of all Filipino
departments to prepare for the expected meeting with the CHED. Teachers from the University of Sto.
Tomas, Ateneo de Manila and the University of the Philippines have already pledged their support to the
activity. The main aim of the upcoming activity, San Juan explained, was to form a concensus among
teachers regarding the design of Filipino subjects in college as will be proposed to the CHed.
In a March 30 letter to the Ched, some 300 teachers from various universities signed in protest against
the removal of Filipino from the new curriculum. These included teachers from DLSU-Manila, Unibersidad
ng Santo Tomas (UST), Philippine Normal University (PNU), DLSU-Dasmariñas, Manila Tytana Colleges,
UP Diliman, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig, Malayan Colleges Laguna, Polytechnic University of the
Philippines (PUP), De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (DLS-CSB), University of the East (UE), Colegio de
San Juan de Letran, St. Mary’s Academy of Caloocan City, Bagumbayan National High School, Signal
Village National High School, Iloilo State College of Fisheries, University of San Jose-Recoletos,
University of Perpetual Help-System, Bagong Silangan High School, Saint Joseph College-Maasin City,
Palawan State University, Elite International School-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, De La Salle Araneta
University, Pasig Catholic College, City of Bogo Science and Arts Academy, Gregorio del Pilar
Elementary School, F. Benitez Elementary School, R. Palma Elementary School, A. Regidor Elementary
School, Mambajog Elementary School, Bon-ot Big Elementary School, St. Paul College-Pasig, Justice
Emilio Angeles Gancangco Memorial High School, Bataan Peninsula State University, Mapua Institute of
Technology, Assumption-Antipolo, St. Scholastica’s Academy-Marikina, Taguig City University, Colegio
San Agustin-Makati, Marinduque State College, Pamantasan ng Cabuyao-Laguna, Miriam College, St.
Paul College of Parañaque, Misamis University, Anawahay National High School, Rizal Technological
University, Southern Christian College, Mater Dei Academy, Central Mindanao University, and the Alpha
Angelicum Academy.

National Artist for Literature and Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) chairman Virgilio Almario said
during a radio interview that the issue may reach the Supreme Court. He said that they were awaiting
replies from the CHED and the House of Representatives regarding KWF suggestions that other college
subjects be taught in Filipino. He explained that the KWF has already put together four Filipino syllabi out
of the eight subjects that will be taught in the new GE curriculum.

BPOs investing in Philippine education

In the meantime, could the move to remove the teaching of Filipino as a language be connected to the
government’s economic and business goals? De las Salle’s San Juan agrees, especially given recent
coordinative actions between the country’s education agencies and the private sector.

According to a report by the ICEF Monitor, the private sector in conjunction with the government is in the
process of implementing reforms in the education sector. Two of these reforms include the transformation
of agricultural colleges into state universities to provide more opportunities to disadvantaged students.

In relation to this, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has launched a facilitation program
called “My First Job” which aims to provide skills training to college and university students. The
program’s fund of US $5.6 million comes from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA). In supporting the program, both agencies said that they want
to help “Filipino youth find jobs at much faster rate and encourage more foreign investors to put up
business in the country.”

In July 2013, a higher education summit took place between business executives and university
administrators. The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) led a gathering of top administrators of
universities and colleges as well as business executives and industry leaders to discuss issues that affect
the system of higher education. The summit aimed to link higher education with industry to solve the
eternal problem of a mismatch between jobs in the market and the skills of graduates.

The summit immediately came out with recommendations for the HEI, including curriculum review and
quality assurance.

Learning institutions vowed to identify competencies that are expected from graduates of higher
education institutions in four courses: business management, information technology, electronics
engineering, tourism, and hotel/restaurant management. The PBed and the CHed signed a memorandum
of agreement regarding these courses which are said to be the main academic areas that produce the
workforce for sunrise industries important to the economy’s continued growth.
Graduate employment is a concern at a time when unemployment rates are rising in the Philippines. The
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the “majority of the unemployed were high
school graduates (31.7%), college graduates (21.3%) and college undergraduates (14.6%).” The issue of
stimulating job creation is of key concern to the current government, and efforts are being made to
address it within the P 2.268 trillion (nearly US $52 billion) 2014 spending plan.

In 2014, the government gave the education sector the lion’s share of the national budget. Allocations for
education are pegged at P 336.9 billion (over US $7.7 billion) or nearly 15% of the total, which is 14%
more than the amount allocated in 2013. Most of this new funding will work to stimulate and develop the
K-12 sector.

Total enrollment for business courses growing

The PBeD said that the number of those who enroll in courses within the four disciplines form at least half
of the total national enrollment in schools in recent years. It said that the improvements in the system of
higher education will make institutions and their graduates more relevant to industry and make graduates
more employable. This will then create a stronger workforce for industries.

The Ched itself has also embarked on efforts to establish partnerships between industry and the
academe. Educational officials explained that all technical panels of the CHed have industry
representatives. Colleges and universities are also being encouraged to become involved with industry by
engaging in on-the-job training schemes, apprenticeship and faculty immersion.

Still, much can still be improved by way of helping graduates secure immediate employment. The CHed
admitted that only 40 percent of the over 500,000 graduates every year become employed one year after
finishing college, and 18 percent of all unemployed Filipinos are college graduates. On the other hand,
the National Statistics Office (NSO) said that 21.3 percent of all unemployed Filipinos are new graduates.

The CheD reported that of all the graduates who responded to the want ads of the Business Processing
Association of the Philippines, only 5 to 8 percent were hired because the rest did not possess the
competencies required by the jobs offered. Given this, there is reason to believe that the newly-
established academe-industry working relations can help bring desired result: that of producing the
manpower demanded by many industry vacancies. Policies, standards and guidelines will be reviewed for
the four aforementioned disciplines, and new requirements will be implemented to make sure that the
PSGs meet the needs of industries.

A moral issue of integrity

The debate regarding the correctness of removing Filipino as a subject to be taught beyond the high
school level continues to rage as of this writing. Various symposia and for a continue to be held in many
universities across the country on the same.

A professor in Filipino in the National Teachers College and Palanca-award winning writer Prof.
Patrocinio Villafuerte said succinctly (and in Filipino), “There have been countless times and ways when
the educators of this country with colonial mentality have violated the essence of the national language.
Instead of abiding by what is stated in the Constitution and work to ensure that the national language
flourishes, these educators blatantly go out of their way to kill it.”

“Removing Filipino as a subject in the new GEC is not just a local issue; it is a moral issue that goes
against the integrity of our race. It is not enough to teach children up to the 11th and 12th grade to say
that they are already good at using the national language. Filipino should continue to be taught and used
up to all levels of formal education,” he said.
Sources:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/171240244/Kritik%20sa%20Patakarang%20Pangwika%20sa%20Ilalim%20
ng%20K%20to%2012.pdf

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/06/15/14/fight-filipino-college-may-reach-supreme-court