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epistle
language
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| Pampanga |
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A confidante of mine writes: >>I've already.... mentioned (my) objection to the transfer of the capital to Clark, whom Abueva wants to rename New Manila (!). Our position is that it is not advisable to transfer the capital for a number of reasons: >>1. It will lead to a massive influx of migrants who cannot be absorbed linguistically (and in other ways), overturning the already fragile Kapampangan majority in the Angeles-Clark-Mabalacat area. This will not only eventually destroy the language and annihilate the Kapampangans as a separate people; an immediate effect would be for political power to be transferred from Kapampangans to the non-Kapampangan immigrants, who could sooner of later outnumber them. >>2. The transfer of the capital represents an unacceptable cession of Kapampangan land to the federal government, with the resulting loss of income from the industries there. Since it is to be enshrined in the Constitution, we will lose all hope of ever regaining control of Clark in the future. And with such a sprawling, key area outside the control of any Kapampangan local government, policies adverse to Kapampangans could be passed there without our having any say in it. The decision to dump Manila's garbage there (shelved indefinitely) over a year ago comes to mind. >>3. Naming a place in the heart of the Kapampangan land "New Manila" is very insulting indeed, and brings home the blatant colonization of our land, and the destruction of our language, culture and identity, even more forcefully. >>We'll also send letters to the other (non-Kapampangan) commissioners on the Kapampangan state issue, as well as on the need to preserve our languages (which is of course a separate issue). >Like what you say, the transfer of our country's capital from Manila to Clark Field would be detrimental to our indigenous language and to Kapampangan culture in general. This is on account of outsiders moving into the place as employees of different government departments and agencies. Pampanga would then become like Rizal province, and with a more serious consequence to bear, since, unlike the latter whose towns had always been Tagalog-speaking like Manila that gobbled them up to form the country's metropolis (which even had a governor during Marcos time), it is populated by a group that has its own ethnic identity that could somehow get obliterated. >However, we can perhaps accommodate their proposal if certain conditions favorable to us are met. Maybe we can accept it with nary a regret, if the country adopts Kapampangan as its national language. How about that :) It may sound downright ridiculous to some, but I'm serious. For with the centrally-located Clark (New Manila!) as capital, it is then but fitting and proper for Kapampangan to become the national language too. After all, didn't Tagalog become the national language because it was the language spoken in the capital? While this is a remote possibility, we must take it into consideration. Who knows, many especially on among southerners that feel aggrieved by what the framers of the Constitution instituted in its language provision, may find the proposal sound and sensible. I'm sure that as a compromise language, though small as it is (just like the Malay language of Indonesia whose number of speakers are outnumbered 4 to 1 by the Javanese-language speakers and still became their nation's national language and eventually renamed Bahasa), it would be acceptable to many. Its becoming the national language would very likely reduce the keen rivalry and apparent animosity between the two large ethno-linguistic majorities, the Tagalogs and the Visayans, in as much as neither of them then would be on top of the other. >I'm glad you've already started working on the suggestions I sent you. You are one I can put my trust on as far as the preservation of Kapampangan is concerned. With you around, there is always hope for Kapampangan's continued stand, as with your work and determination to weather the language storm, its flag, graced by the image of the lion and the tiger, would forever be there. T. Ernie |
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