Linggo ng Wika

One ideal trait of a united country is that all citizens speak one language. Most states with big populations with many dialects are in Asia like India, with one billion plus and 1,000 dialects, China with one billion plus and 500 dialects, Indonesia with 250 million population and 200 dialects. There are 100 million plus Filipinos and about 82 major and minor dialects. The major dialects are Bisaya, Tagalog, Ilocano, Bicolano, Kapampangan, Chabacano, Ilonggo (divided into Hiligaynon and Kiniray-a), Waray, Tausug, Maranaw and Maguindanaw. Examples of minor dialects are Igorot, Ifugao, Ibanag, Mandaya, Manobo, Mansaka, Bagobo, Tagabawa, Matigsalog, Ata, Tiruray, Bilaan, etc. When India became independent in 1947, there was no political will then and now to have one language so the 1 billion Indians are still fragmented. In 1949, when Mao Tse Tung’s communist party gained power in China, the first thing Mao did was to impose mandarin as the only language. Today, China’s gross domestic product or GDP is number two in the world. Its three trillion US dollars is the world’s biggest dollar reserve. In the late 1930s, President Quezon created the National Language Institute to see if we can have a national language. The 1930s statistics showed that there were more bisayans than tagalogs. Because the political leaders were Tagalogs, Quezon, Laurel, Recto, Vargas, etc. nothing happened. The 2017 statistics are the same as that of the 1930s. From 1930 to 2010, we only had two Bisayan presidents, Don Sergio Osmeña (1946) and Carlos Garcia (1957-1961). Because of political correctness and because nobody wants to disturb the status quo, we still do not have a national language. Hopefully President Duterte will show hints of resolving the National Language issue.