A group of Filipino language students on Tuesday said the recent memorandum issued by the Department of Education on the use of the letters F and P was a victory for Pilipino as a language.
Christian Nayles, an incoming fourth year AB Filipinolohiya student and President of PUP Kabataang Tanggol Wika told Daily Tribune in a message that the usage of the letter “F” and the word “Filipinas” was truly confusing, saying Filipinos have become tourists in their own country.
“The use and existence of the “F” in “Filipinas” is really confusing. It’s like Filipinos have become tourists in their own country who are forced to dress up and change their identity,” he said.
However, Nayles said the use of “P” and the word “Pilipinas are natural in the pronunciation of Filipinos, saying it is a success on the reviving and bringing back patriotism to the Filipino people.
“Also, proof that the use of “P” in “Pilipinas” is natural in the pronunciation of Filipinos and not forced tongue-in-cheek on how to pronounce it. This is a success in reviving the spirit and even in bringing back the patriotism of the Filipino people,” he explained.
This comes after the Department of Education (DepEd) on 26 August issued a Department Memorandum No. 74, s. 2022 or the implementation of the decision of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) to stop the implementation of the Commissioner No. 13-19, s. 2013 thru the implementation of the Commissioner No. 21-18, s. 2021.
KWF Chairperson Arthur Casanova told Daily Tribune that the 1987 Constitution was their basis where “Pilipinas” and not “Filipinas” is the official Filipino name of the Philippines, saying that changing “Filipinas” from “Pilipinas” will only cause confusion to the students and conflict on many Filipinos.
“We cannot blame them since according to research that during the Spanish Era, letter “F” or “Filipinas” was used by our heroes in their writings but time changes, the language also changes. Whatever is written in our Constitution, it should be followed” he said.
When asked about on what to do with books already published with the word “Filipinas”, Casanova said that books should not be disposed of immediately and teachers should explain to the students that the current pronunciation is “Pilipinas” and not “Filipinas”.