Obstacles and Solutions in Using Filipino as Medium of Instruction

Misconceptions ( “Palapalagay” ) About the Use of Filipino as Medium of Instruction

• $4$ persistent but mistaken assumptions identified by Florentino T. Timbreza:
  1. Filipino must first fully develop before being used in classrooms.
  2. The national language still lacks vocabulary; therefore it cannot yet function as a teaching language.
  3. Numerous English words have no Filipino equivalents.
  4. There are too few textbooks written in Filipino, so teachers and students will struggle.
• Each assumption becomes, in practice, a self-perpetuating excuse that delays active use and thus hinders growth of the language.

Direct Rebuttals & Guiding Questions

• Development of any language is usage-driven; refusing to use Filipino prevents the very growth critics demand.
• Vocabulary gaps can only be filled through creative coinage, borrowing, and contextual innovation during real use.
• English–Filipino equivalence emerges after teachers, writers, and scholars dare to translate, adapt, and invent.
• Textbook scarcity will persist unless specialists first master Filipino and write in it.

Core Principle: “Language Grows By Use”

• Supported by modern linguistics: dormant languages stagnate; active languages expand.
• Historical evidence in the Philippines: prolonged English dominance ($>50$ years of U.S. rule) led to robust English proficiency while Filipino “withered.”
• Caring metaphor: English was “cultivated and painstakingly studied,” whereas Filipino was “shackled, neglected, and exiled.”

Historical & Cultural Roots of the Problem

• Dual colonization: $>300$ years under Spain + $50$ years under the U.S. fostered a colonial mentality (makadayuhan).
  • Psychological effect: inferiority complex; Filipino speakers feel less educated.
• Regionalism (rehiyunalismo): loyalty to Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilocano, etc. causes rivalry and resists a unifying national language.
• Result: Filipino becomes stigmatized as the language of “uneducated” or “poor” sectors.

Illustrative Metaphor: “Ang Palaka sa Balon” (Frog in the Well)

• A frog, knowing only the water inside a well, assumes no greater body of water exists.
• Heavy rains flood the well, revealing rivers and oceans; frog is shocked by its limited worldview.
• Parallel to educators attached solely to English or to regional dialects—unaware of Filipino’s wider potential.

Colonial Mentality vs. Linguistic Pride: International Comparison

• Dr. Emerita Quito’s anecdote: in France, a tourist speaking English is ignored; French linguistic pride dominates.
• In the Philippines, the reverse occurs: a Filipino gains attention only when speaking English, ideally with an “American accent.”

Consequences of Regionalistic & Colonial Attitudes

• Fragmentation: Filipinos often prefer to be labeled “Cebuano,” “Ilonggo,” “Muslim,” rather than “Pilipino.”
• Intellectual, cultural, and political disunity; slows nation-building and educational reform.

Decolonization (Dekolonisasyon) as Prescriptive Solution

• Defined as the liberation from colonial cultural structures inhibiting national unity.
• Calls for re-writing Philippine history “sa pananaw-Pilipino” (from the Filipino viewpoint).
  • Example: De La Salle University’s History Department teaches history in Filipino—a concrete act of decolonization.
• Empowering force: breaks psychological chains, encourages nationwide understanding and brotherhood.

Role & Responsibility of Intellectuals and Educators

• According to Dr. Quito, native intellectuals must spearhead cultural re-orientation, craft new narratives, and supply Filipino scholarly materials.
• Teachers of history, philosophy, and other disciplines become key agents in normalizing Filipino as a legitimate academic language.

Ethical / Philosophical Implications

• Linguistic justice: Every citizen deserves access to knowledge in a language they command emotionally and cognitively.
• Cultural authenticity: Using Filipino surfaces indigenous concepts, values, and worldviews suppressed by imperial languages.
• National solidarity: A shared instructional language bridges class and regional divides.

Real-World Relevance & Practical Outcomes

• Expanded vocabulary enables scientific, technical, and philosophical discourse in Filipino.
• Generates local textbooks, research papers, and creative works—reducing dependency on foreign material.
• Promotes educational equity: rural or economically disadvantaged students not penalized for weaker English proficiency.

Concluding Synthesis (“Paglalagom”)

• Empirical classroom experience shows Filipino’s capacity to express complex linguistic, historical, and human truths.
• True obstacle is not lexical deficiency but the Filipino people’s lingering colonial mindset and regionalism.
• Call to action: each Filipino must “rise from his own well,” abandon parochialism, and embrace Filipino for teaching.
• Evocative literary parallels:
  • Folk song “Ang Bayan Ko”: cage even a free bird and it will fight to escape—Filipinos should likewise struggle for linguistic freedom.
  • Love song excerpt: some choose happiness only “in the arms of another” (foreign language), sacrificing authentic freedom.

“Kailangan nating kumalas sa tanikala ng wikang dayuhan at ng ating sari-sariling ‘balon’ upang maging tunay na malaya at makabansa.”