MANILA — The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) plans to launch next year a project that aims to document how names of provinces, cities, and municipalities nationwide came about.
The Atlas Filipinas project aims to trace the origin and evolution of the names by looking into relevant records, oral histories, and other information, particularly from indigenous peoples, elders, and members of the local culture and arts councils (LCACs).
“It will be KWF’s first attempt at documenting the matter,” said KWF linguistic specialist Jomar Cañega, point person of the project.
Cañega said the project is among KWF’s initiatives for helping address historical and cultural documentation gaps that the government cited in its
2017-2022 Philippine Development Plan.
Cañega said the project would enable KWF to produce an atlas featuring official names of Philippine provinces, cities, and municipalities.
The atlas will also include information on how those names evolved, according to him.
Cañega added the KWF plans to release the atlas’ first edition around 2022.
“Schools and others will be able to use the atlas as a reference material,” he said.
The KWF initiated a similar project in 2014 but local government response was lackluster, noted Cañega.
This time, however, he said KWF had already begun coordinating with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which has
jurisdiction over local government units (LGUs) nationwide, so the Atlas Filipinas project could push through.
The DILG enjoins provinces, cities, and municipalities in the country to legislate establishment of respective LCACs, according to Cañega.
He said LCACs would be among KWF’s sources of information on the origin and evolution of LGUs’ names.
The KWF would tap LCACs, since a DILG memorandum circular issued last year states that among the functions of these councils is promoting local cultural heritage and arts, he added.
Cañega said LGUs in Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) had already complied with the circular by establishing their respective LCACs.
Thus, the KWF has decided to pilot the Atlas Filipinas project there this year.
“We aim to make the atlas as comprehensive as possible,” Cañega said. (Catherine Teves/PNA)
