Today I Learned: Rizal Didn’t Write 'Ang di marunong magmahal sa sariling wika...'

Ready your barongs and balintawaks. The balagtasans and spoken-word pieces. A swelling of national pride and linguistic assertions. The countless speeches of our politicians professing their “love” for language while saying sorry for their lackluster skill in Filipino. August is here, and as the nation observes Buwan ng Wika, here are other facts on the Filipino language that may convince you na mas gamitin pa ang Filipino at di lamang gawing token ang Agosto.

There should be a running count of how many times the lines "Ang di marunong magmahal sa sariling wika / higit pa sa hayop at malansang isda" will be attributed to Jose Rizal from his poem Sa Aking mga Kabata. Literary historian and National Artist Virgilio S. Almario and historian Ambeth Ocampo have already said their piece that this poem was not written supposedly by an eight-year-old Rizal back in 1868. Reasons include the use of the letter "k" that was not yet in fashion during Rizal’s time as a youth, and also, the word "kalayaan" was something only a 25-year-old Rizal in 1886 would problematize as a translation for the German word freiheit or libertad in Spanish. Rizal is surely timeless, but he is no time traveller. And Rizal left behind countless volumes of correspondence together with his works rife with his thoughts on language and culture. So please, let us read him some more.

Quezon, not the city, but the great man, a.k.a. the "Ama ng Wikang Pambansa" (Father of the Filipino Language), will also be given his flowers this August. Yes, his language nationalism will always be respected by Filipinos. His political will was branded in his Executive Order 134 in 1937 that “birthed” a Filipino language based on an existing native language, Tagalog. 

But behind the Father, there was an architect for this birthing: Associate Justice Norberto L. Romualdez (1875–1941). 

Romualdez, a Waray from Leyte, was the Renaissance man of his time. He was a lawyer by profession but was well-versed in the study of anything related to  Filipino: music, psychology, and culture. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention from 1934–1935 and was recognized as one of the "Seven Wise Men" who drafted the 1935 Constitution. As a member of the National Assembly, he crafted the bill that eventually became Commonwealth Act 184. This bill created the National Language Institute (now the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino), the agency responsible for studying and choosing the most appropriate indigenous language that was to become the basis of the national language. This act was in accordance with the spirit of the 1935 Constitution calling for the development and adoption of a national language based on an existing Philippine language. So honor this architect, truly an honorable Romualdez.

Imagine this: a "language war" that raged from the '60s to the '70s and eventually reached the Supreme Court. Back in 1963, Congressman Innocencio Ferrer of Negros Occidental took the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa (again, another name for the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino) to court for his claims that the language agency was only promoting "Tagalog" masked as a national language. Added in were the language policies deemed to be puristic, favoring the national language. 

Hateful words were said. Definitely, factions were formed. And this struggle reached its pinnacle when it went to the Supreme Court in 1970. The SC favored the Surian in 1970, and out of the wounds and lessons from this court battle, a more inclusive view of the national language emerged in the 1973 Constitution, and definitely the best version yet, in 1987. Now you can say that change for the better was the result of this language war.

And here we are, holding on to the meaning and wisdom behind the definition of the Filipino language from the crafters of the 1987 Constitution. Provisions from the previous constitutions (Malolos, 1935, 1973) went from not having a national language and a preference for the Spanish language to actually announcing the arrival and development of a national language. The 1987 Constitution finally called the national language "Filipino." It also enjoys official language status with English. The article calls for its continuous evolution through the help of other Filipinos using the more than 135 languages in Filipinas. Now that our language is nearing 40, is its midlife crisis over? Are we looking forward to its ripening and enrichment through the succeeding decades?

It used to be Linggo ng Wika until 1997. Now it’s Buwan ng Wika—and we now actually have a Linggo ng Hika, a national observance on asthma awareness every second week of August. We are not alone in celebrating our own language. Around the world, there are countries like India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and others that celebrate their native languages. But they are mostly relegated to week-long celebrations. The Philippines may be the only country on Earth with a month-long celebration for its national language.

Is it something to be proud of? While it is a great boost to campaigns for the development and intellectualization of Filipino and our indigenous languages, what we will call "pag-ibig sa wika" energy eventually drops after August. Maybe we can improve this sustained performance by quoting Rizal right: Ang wika ang pag-iisip ng bayan.

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