Wikang Filipino in its truest form

The article “It’s Filipino, not Tagalog or Pilipino” by Neni Sta. Romana Cruz is quite enlightening; a must-read for all regarding the “Filipino” vs. Tagalog/Pilipino issue. It revisits the complexity of our history and culture and explains the entire anatomy of Wikang Filipino – a language as diverse as the people using it.

First of all, Filipino is NOT Tagalog, merely because of the regionalistic concept that would imply. Tagalog IS the basis for Filipino, but it isn’t what Filipino is entirely made up of. Its entirety, to be clear, consists of Tagalog (as basis), native languages, and other (foreign) languages (English, for example). Secondly, Filipino is NOT Pilipino – the difference being the fact that Filipino refers to the language, and Pilipino refers to the constituents of the nation. Now that we’ve established what’s NOT Filipino, what IS Filipino?

“As a living language, it is dynamic and enriched as it is used in everyday life and in academic settings. This definition draws from the 1987 Constitution and its recognition of Filipino as the national language,” the article states. This statement emphasizes how Filipino is a “living language”; one constantly evolving and developing. It makes sense – what with the new languages the Philippines has borne over the years (“beki” lingo, “conyo” talk, and the variations of Tagalog and other native languages).

In support with the previous statement, I quote from the article, “Section 6, Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution that specifies Filipino as the national language also states: “As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.””

The reality amongst us Filipinos, though, is that we lack knowledge about these facts, these laws, and judge based on the “Wikang Filipino” preferences we’ve come to know. It isn’t right to confine a diverse language into just the one we’ve comfortably used - our national language remains a multicultural work-in-progress mirroring the many cultures of the Filipinos, and it’s time we acknowledge and embrace that fact.