Members of Alyansa ng mga Tagapagtanggol ng Wikang Filipino (Tanggol Wika), an organization of Filipino language advocates, on Monday held a protest rally at the Supreme Court to dramatize their indignation over the Court’s decision excluding Filipino and Panitikan from the general college curriculum.
Contrary to its earlier pronouncement, the Tanggol Wika did not file a second motion for reconsideration seeking to reverse the March 20 SC’s ruling, but instead the group filed a “letter of protest” asking Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin to reverse the ruling that they described as an “imminent cultural genocide.”
In its ruling, the SC denied with finality the motions for reconsideration against its October 2018 decision upholding a memorandum issued by the Commission on Higher Education excluding Filipino and Panitikan from the general college curriculum.
The tribunal said the petitioner failed to offer any substantial arguments to warrant a reversal of its previous decision.
However, Tanggol Wika argued that the decision was “patently unjust” as the group expressed concern on the number of Filipino teachers who might be displaced.
The group said at least 10, 000 teachers — especially part-time ones – could easily lose their teaching loads and or jobs as soon as some school administrators hastily implement the SC’ decision.
“As the national language is a strong social glue that binds our archipelago, it is not an exaggeration to say our country’s survival is also at stake here,” the group said in its 22-page letter said.
The group said the CHED memorandum violated the 1987 Constitution by retaining and prioritizing English over the Filipino language, as well as by “reversing” the official use of Filipino in the whole educational system.
“It is a travesty to allow CHED to make a regressive move on language policy, when the Constitution mandates forward action, continuous progress into the process of cultivating the national language,” the group added.
“Both CHED and the SC have somehow decided to kill our country’s soul, our people’s capacity to think freely, the mark of our liberty and collective consciousness,” they further said.
Tanggol Wika said if the SC ruling was not reversed, the Filipino language would “also be murdered as an effective medium of instruction.”
One of the group’s convenor, David Michael San Juan, said their lawyers opted not to file a second motion for reconsideration before the High Court due to the slim chance that it would be granted by the magistrates.
He added they believed that the letter of protest carried more weight and arguments, adding that they were hoping the magistrates would consider holding an oral arguments on the issue just like what they did on other controversial issues brought to its attention.
He said the ruling focused more on the technicalities of the case, rather on the points they raised.
In their original plea, Tanggol Wika headed by National Artist for Literature and University of the Philippines Prof. Bienvenido Lumbera said the CHED order “violates five provisions of the Constitution” namely the provision on the national language, Philippine culture, nationalist education and labor policy which were provided for in Article XIV, Section 2 and 3; Article II, Section 18; and Article XIII, Section 3 of the Constitution.
Tanggol Wika also stressed then that the said order also violated Republic Act 7104 (Organic Act of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino/KWF/Commission on the Filipino Language), Republic Act No. 232 (Education Act of 1982), and Republic Act 7356 (Organic Act of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts/NCCA).
The group added the CHED even “usurped” one of the functions of the KWF which was to formulate a language policy when it issued the assailed order.