MANILA — The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the government agency tasked to promote Philippine languages, will report the state of national language Filipino and other Philippine languages in a language congress set this week.
“KWF’s State of the Language Address (SOLA) will tackle such matters,” the agency’s senior language researcher Roy Rene Cagalingan told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Tuesday.
He said Filipinos must learn about Philippine languages’ state so they could help preserve and further develop these over time.
Continuously using such languages would prevent these from becoming extinct, he noted.
National Artist for Literature and KWF Chairperson Virgilio Almario is scheduled to deliver the SOLA at the agency’s “Kongreso sa
Wika” language congress on Aug. 2-4 in Metro Manila.
Discussions during language congress will seek to generate inputs for either updating or revising grammar guidelines for Filipino.
Kongreso sa Wika is among KWF’s activities for the celebration of the annual Buwan ng Wika (Language Month) this year.
Proclamation 1041 series of 1997 proclaimed August of every year as Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa or National Language Month.
The 1987 Constitution set Filipino as the country’s national language.
“As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages,” the Constitution
reads.
The government must initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and language of instruction in the country’s educational system, the Constitution provides further.
Various fora spearheaded by the KWF over the years have featured experts who use Filipino in teaching their respective fields.
Using Filipino helps students better understand such subjects, they observed.
“Filipino is versatile. It’s not just for daily conversation but can be used in various disciplines,” Cagalingan said.
The KWF still aims to mainstream the Filipino language in the fields of medicine, engineering, and other disciplines.
“Much still needs to be done for promoting Filipino’s use,” Cagalingan said.
Earlier this year, the KWF’s board of commissioners approved Resolution 18-24 that set “Filipino: Wika ng Saliksik” (Filipino: the language of research) as the theme for the 2018 Buwan ng Wika celebration.
The theme reflects the agency’s bid for the intellectualization of the Filipino language, KWF Commissioner Purificacion Delima noted.
“The theme aims to further promote the use of Filipino as a medium for creating and imparting knowledge in various disciplines, particularly the sciences,” she said at the symbolic flag-raising ceremony that kicked off the 2018 celebration of Buwan ng Wika on Monday.
The KWF kicked off the celebration with a call for cultural agencies to increasingly undertake research using Filipino and other Philippine languages. (Catherine Teves/PNA)
