By Catherine Teves | PNA
MANILA — Another Philippine language will have its own marker as the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) is set to unveil the Bantayog-Wika marker or monument for the Ivatan language in Batanes province on Monday.
Aside from being a way of recognizing Philippine languages, KWF said installing and unveiling Bantayog-Wika markers around the country aim to raise awareness about and promote the continuous use of these communication modes.
The continuous use of Philippine languages will help prevent them from becoming extinct, the KWF noted.
Expected to attend the 6 p.m. unveiling are National Artist and KWF Chairperson Virgilio Almario, Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco, Basco Mayor Anastacia Viola, and Department of Education (DepEd) educational program supervisor for Filipino Myrna Agudo.
The KWF also expects other representatives of DepEd and officials of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to attend the unveiling at the Batanes provincial capitol compound in Basco. According to KWF, its Bantayog-Wika project aims to install and unveil a marker for each of the country’s estimated 130 languages.
Since last year, the KWF has unveiled a Bantayog-Wika marker each in Antique, Ifugao, Davao Oriental, Kalinga, Occidental Mindoro, Bukidnon, Bataan, Batangas, Surigao del Norte, Baguio City, Sorsogon, Pangasinan, and General Santos City for local languages spoken in these areas.
The Bantayog-Wika project is in coordination with Senator Loren Legarda’s office and local government units that express interest in having the language markers in their respective areas.
Installation artist Luis “Junyee” Yee Jr. is the designer and creator of Bantayog-Wika markers that are made of stainless steel. Yee uses laser technology to cut ancient Baybayin letters into the marker, the KWF noted.
The letters form several lines of Philippine hero Andres Bonifacio’s poem, “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Bayan”. The markers are lighted from within so people can read the lines at night.
