I was reading DILA last night.

As a Canadian who feels that it's getting more difficult for me to continue practising my native tongue, I have this weird (and perhaps, unfounded) fear that one day the Tagalog language would not exist anymore. There aren't many avenues for me to converse in it, because most Filipinos I know here (other than my parents) or on the internet either don't want to talk in Tagalog or don't know how to.

It's strange, because living in Toronto where people are encouraged to know more than one language, I feel disheartened to find that people from my country of origin are increasingly pressured to use English over Filipino languages. I do understand that Filipino languages are suffering from lack of intellectualization and prestige, especially in the global landscape. But even though I understand why people prefer English, I still feel a little sad at the devaluation of Filipino languages.

I'm a proponent of the intellectualization and conservation of the languages in the Philippines. I know it might be difficult for some people to understand, since many think that language is only a means of communication. But as a writer, I know what words can do for someone. When you lose a language, you lose a way of expressing yourself, of constructing meaning from a unique cultural perspective. I can tell you right now that there are things I can express in Tagalog that English words could never fully convey.

As someone who is half Kapampangan and never learned the Pampango language, I know that my concern for Tagalog is not nearly as warranted as the concern for other regional languages, many of which are on the verge of extinction within the next 50 years. To that end, many people in DILA propose that the official and national status of the Filipino language should be removed. Most of them suggest that we should just keep English as the official language, and that each ethnolinguistic region in the Philippines should just use their indigenous tongue. They propose that this will help uplift other regional languages.

Here's where I feel really conflicted though. While I do support the usage and promotion of regional languages, I'm not sure if that goal can be achieved with an English-only official language. I feel that English, being a dominant global vernacular, has a penchant for relegating any of the Filipino languages to an inferior status. There are Filipinos right now raised in the country itself who can only speak English. If the official status of Filipino can't even make those people speak Filipino now, what difference would it make for other regional languages if Filipino's official status is removed? Wouldn't people inevitably still choose to learn English instead?

I think what saddens me most is how a lot of Filipinos would prefer to use English than use my native tongue. I'm not denying the imperialistic history of Manila. But I wonder why it is that people are more accepting of a foreign language (a language that was forced on us by an even more imperialistic hand) than a fellow language indigenous to the islands of the country? Is it still colonial mentality? Is it that we just see English as superior to any of our fellow indigenous languages?

I can see how using English as the sole official language would be the fairest solution. It's fair because every Filipino language loses equally, and hence every Filipino language wins equally. But isn't that just a form of crab mentality? Why can't we find a solution in which we all climb up, rather than have all of us "equally" stay down?

Don't get me wrong, I do think that the Manila-centric culture of the Philippines is problematic. I'm just wondering if making English as the sole official language really is the best solution. And maybe my concerns are misplaced, you know? Maybe with the right nurturing and grassroots movement, regional languages might actually flourish under this kind of policy. I just need reassurance that by taking this route, our languages would actually flourish, instead of English scything over all of our languages in its buoyed prominence.

Anyway, as someone who grew up in the Tagalog region, I understand that I'm coming from a privileged perspective. There's probably many angles to this problem that I'm not aware of. And maybe I'm worried for nothing. Maybe that's really the way to go.