Tatag ng Wikang Filipino, Lakas ng Pagka-Pilipino

What do you think is the reason why oneness exists among the different groups of people in a certain country? How is their own identity being formed? Well, I do think that this is not because of their looks or the way they dress up and this isn’t even because of their acts and deeds; instead, this is because of their own language. If you try to ponder on this thing, the people of a certain country unite because of their national language. Philippines and the Filipino language is the best example for this.

Many chapters had been molded from the history of the national language of the Philippines. If we try to trace its history, we will discover that the Filipinos were really hard up in their adventure towards the success of their national language’s establishment. Philippines is an archipelago, this is one of the reasons why the Filipinos were not united at the very first point. The people in every island, region and tribe, have a unique culture with its own dialect. Because of this, the Filipinos had a difficulty in understanding one another. Aside from the geography, diverse cultures and varied dialects of the Philippines, the Filipinos were hard up in the establishment of their own national language because of the Spaniards. The Spaniards supersede them; they took away the freedom and rights of every Filipinos. But, when the Philippines had freed from being a colony of Spain, it wasn’t still enough for the Filipinos to just have a government. They needed a certain language which will be used as an instrument in attaining nation’s unity, in order for the gap between the regions to be eradicated. Because of these hindrances, the Filipinos have gone through many arguments before they had established the said national language. In the end, according to the 1986 Constitution (Article XIV, Section VI), Filipino is the national language of the Philippines. It was established as the national language of the Philippines through the help of Manuel L. Quezon, who was known as the “Father of National Language”. After long years, the Filipino language has become the reason why the Filipinos have now their own identity. The Filipino language isn’t just important in communication. It is also very significant because it is the instrument for the Filipinos to express their ideas and insights which leads to the Philippines’ oneness.

The more than 7000 islands of the Philippines are now united and the oneness among the Filipinos was already attained. Thanks to the Filipino language. Mabuhay ang Wikang Filipino, Mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino!