Home
language
 symposium3
martinez
DILABIRTH
akademya
defenders
sally
dugong aso
|
| The DILA Manifesto |
 |
| by David C. Martinez |
THE DILA MANIFESTO
We, members of a worldwide movement for the protection, preservation, and promotion of all the indigenous languages of the Philippines, address this Manifesto to our government, citizens, and all organizations and individuals who may find common cause with us, declare our commitment to the objectives set out here, and call on all to join us in working for these goals.
For over half a century now, Tagalog, disguised as Pilipino/Filipino, has been adopted and promoted as the national language of the Philippines to the detriment and at the expense of our other, myriad indigenous languages. Even worse, non-Tagalogs who fail or decline to learn that language well are often deemed unpatriotic. Love of country has come to be equated with fluency in Tagalog.
We cannot endure this grievous injustice any longer.
1. DEMOCRACY
Our current system confers lifelong privileges on native speakers of Tagalog but requires everyone else to devote years of effort to achieve what invariably becomes a lesser degree of proficiency. This is fundamentally undemocratic. We maintain that language inequality gives rise to cultural and political inequality as well. We are a movement for democratic communication.
2. GLOBAL PARTICIPATION
English has become the world’s lingua franca in many fields, including trade and commerce, science, technology, and diplomacy. Since most non-Tagalog Filipinos feel the need to communicate effectively in English, making it effectively their second language, there is no reason to require them to acquire a third. If Tagalog is to be taught at all, it should be taught as an elective subject. We are a movement for global participation.
3. EFFECTIVE EDUCATION
More and more of our elementary and high school subjects are being taught in Tagalog. This runs afoul of the universally-accepted tenet that learning is best achieved when taught in one’s indigenous language, the language of one’s home and community. Under this system, Tagalogs taught in Tagalog are favored; non-native speakers of Tagalog are not. We are a movement for fair and effective language learning.
4. LANGUAGE RIGHTS
The unequal distribution of power between native speakers of Tagalog and those who acquire it as a second tongue is a recipe for permanent language insecurity. Indeed, it has resulted in outright language oppression for our non-Tagalog population. We level that playing field by allowing our nations to adopt their own languages as the primary medium of instruction in their schools, and at the same time adopting English as our common and official language for government. Within our nations we will communicate in our respective tongues; amongst our nations, as with the outside world, we can do so in English. We are a movement for equitable language rights.
6. LANGUAGE DIVERSITY
Our central government deems the great diversity of Filipino languages as a barrier to communication, development, and the formation of a common Filipino identity. In direct contrast, we believe that our authentic identity lies precisely in our diversity. We maintain that the current system, contrary to official pronouncements, disrespects that diversity. Its policies amount to a virtual death sentence imposed on all our non-Tagalog languages. We are a movement for cultural and linguistic diversity.
March, 2002
David C. Martinez is a lawyer and is the author of the
upcoming book "A Country of Our Own".
Related Links:
DILA Resolution
http://www.webspawner.com/users/dilaresolution
Ethnic Cleansing by Jed Pensar and Herb Mantawe
http://www.philippines.com.ph/ColonialRP/ethnic.htm
|
|