08/08/2025
๐๐ข๐ข๐ | ๐ช๐ถ๐ธ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ
Filipinos take pride in their freedom, but many fail to realize that ignoring their native languages threatens their cultural identity. As more dialects fade away, they must act to preserve them because saving their language means saving who they are.
The Philippines is a well-known country due to its great number of indigenous languages, yet, regardless of this, some of the dialects are slowly becoming extinct, disrupting the nature of the long-established culture of the Philippines. Although people are keeping up with the modern generation, they also change their manners towards their own, unhurriedly stranding their vernaculars. As a result, the young generation today rarely express themselves in Filipino, shifting to the foreign language, which is more on English, instead.
According to the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, around 50 Philippine languages are endangered; among them all 32 Negrito languages, while Ethnologue data (2022) notes that of the 175 native languages, approximately 35 are endangered and 11 are critically endangered. Researchers estimate that at least six Philippine languages, including Dicamay Agta and Villa Viciosa Agta, have already gone extinct .
A tragedy unfolds; the extreme efforts and hard work of Filipinos were exerted during World War 2 to obtain the independence of their nation and have their own management through crafting cultures, especially having their own language. This trend is not only cultural but historical, undermining the very independence hard-won by past generations. Despite this, people who exist in this generation are neglecting the value of their determination; instead of valuing their own, people have abandoned it and begun to depend once again on foreign influences.
Old Filipinos have tried their best to get away from Americans and claim what's theirs; hence, they should uphold the justice of those Filipinos who have exerted their blood, tears, and sweat to let them live in a tranquil country, free from dependency. People should value their bequest through appraising one of the elements of culture, language. Citizens who lived in this generation must honor their heritage by preserving language, their own "sariling atin", before it falls into silence.
Words by Dale Divinagracia
Digital Art by Jonel Restauro
