48 thoughts on “Baybayin Bill – National Script Act of 2011”

1. I approve of this move, but I’m not so sure that in its current state without some modernization that it’s suitable to be put to all of these uses. It *really* needs to be updated to be inclusive of the other languages that have non-Tagalog phonemes. Are we also going to write foreign names in the Latin script, or how are we handling this in Baybayin as national script? I’d really like to know the finer details of this.

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   • I mixed modern Filipino alphabet( C,F,Ñ,Q,R,V,X,Y,Z) in writing BAYBAYIN….,with the same rules in writIng the BAYBAYIN…,
     Tagalog language is used nationwide because it can be understood by majority of the Filipino..,why not use also the TAGALOG BAYBAYIN as the standard BAYBAYIN characters….,

     I’m a Bachelor of Education student,…and in K-12 Curriculum the local language is used in instruction in every region (mother-tongue) but they also used Tagalog and English at the same time(multilingual).
     Following this principle,..we can teach this standard BAYBAYIN characters to the Kapampangan,Mangyan ,Palawan,atbp. together with there LOCAL BAYBAYIN.Those characters are closely related…naman diba?

     I’m very interested to join with an active organization that promote BAYBAYIN….hoping that you can help

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     • the kapampangans and the mangyans have their own. if the “standard” baybayin is imposed upon them, it would only kill their native scripts. besides, their ancestors never used the Tagalog Baybayin in writing their language. forcing it upon them will be very disrespectful..

     • and another thing, placing the diff. philippine scripts under the term baybayin is pure disrespect. why don’t we call them the way they really are, or the way that their people call them? i am not a “purist” as some would say but I would just want to remind you that the Philippines is not a homogenous country. we are consisted of different ethnolinguistic groups that has developed a different culture from one another. 🙂 sorry if I posted it here, I wassupposed to post this a separate comment. 🙂

2. Interesting. I can’t find any record of this on Representative Bataoil’s web page, and the only reference Google has is to this very page on Baybayin.com! I imagine it is a very early version of the bill and it hasn’t been introduced to the House (?) yet.

   As for the name, it’s not clear that it had a “name” as such at first: “baybáyin”, as Pardo de Tavera reminds us, just meant “putting in sequence/a row” before it was associated with writing (just like it does in a number of other Philippine languages), and the word probably meant nothing more than the “alphabetical order” of the letters. And at least in the Bikol area, we know it was referred to with the word “basahán”, i.e. “reading”. Probably the best name for it, the one I use in my scholarly writing, is “Philippine Script”. (Even though Unicode officially calls it “Tagalog Script”, something that cannot be changed because of the need for permanence in the standard.)

   I think it’s a certainty that it was one script, with a range of variation between different individual handwriting styles and other slight variations found in specific regions. Even the modern Mangyan and Palawan scripts are basically very little different from the variety of handwriting styles you find in the numerous signatures and other handwritten texts we have from the 1600s. And nobody has yet published any evidence for scholarly scrutiny that gives any reason to believe any separate Bisayan or Kapampangan scripts existed. I have seen two of the perhaps only three documents with old Kapampangan signatures known to exist, and the only similarities with the modern hybrid Kapampangan script are the shapes of *some* of the letters. The modern Kapampangan script is a beautiful, elegant, well-designed calligraphic variety of the Philippine script.

   As for clam shells, you can bet I agree with you there. This May I am presenting a paper at the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society in Bangkok on the early Gujarati origin of the Philippine script and how it is the key to understanding the origin of the scripts of Sulawesi and Sumatra. I think I’ll send Representative Bataoil a copy so he has a better idea of scholarly research on the script.

   ~~~~
   As for a standard, there is a lot of work to be done. I have mentioned this in a preliminary report for the Script Encoding Initiative on Indonesian and Philippine scripts that need to be encoded or need extensions added in Unicode. For Baybayin, I mentioned the variety of conflicting proposals for extensions, none of which has gained much if any ground, but pointed out that new vowel marks and a letter for “r” seem to have gained widespread acceptance and would deserve to be added. Though English, Spanish and other words can be written in their original Latin script, just like Japanese often does, it’s obvious that some other extensions might need to be added for sounds in non-Tagalog Philippine languages.

   As you point out, no real standard exists so far, and before one is set up, people need to have a clear understanding of the history and the structure of the script and the linguistic reasons that justify one choice over another in any particular case. And of course, requiring everyone to start labelling everything in Baybayin is a bit of an imposition to say the least, especially when few people know how the script works, and will inevitably lead to howlers galore. And to opposition and the demand “Bye-bye-in!” from some quarters. Probably a better approach would be to encourage people, perhaps provide some kind of incentive, to include Baybayin labelling – along with some official or semi-official body that could provide assistance in making sure they get things right.

   By the way, there is one point where the bill needs to be corrected: Baybayin versions of Latin script words aren’t translations. Translations are between different languages. These would be transliterations, strictly speaking, or just “Baybayin equivalents”.

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   • Yeah it’s not online yet. The copy I have has a 3/16 stamp on it. If the bill passes, I hope that it will force (fill in the blank) to address the many questions. Thanks for your historical context. I look forward to your research

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   • Yes, Mr. Miller you are a Canadian and so much interested with our own Script (Baybayin), if you can go to Malaysia for your presentation why not go here to the Philippines & present your paper for the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society in Bangkok on the early Gujarati origin of the Philippine script and how it is the key to understanding the origin of the scripts of Sulawesi and Sumatra. This is our own script & we thank you for your deep study of it but don’t just give a copy to Congressman Bataoil please present this to to congress as well and don’t use this comment page of the baybayin.com only, you can meet us anytime for a dialogue or a conference if you want here in the Philippines in person because we cannot use only the internet or online for presentation of your study only. Thanks for the gesture.

     Taklobo Baybayin Team

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     • I join Info in his invitation for you to come to the Philippines to meet the group.

     • Mr.Miller actually went to the Philippines earlier this month and attended the Ticao Stone conference in Masbate.

3. This bill needs a lot of work before it becomes presentable. Weeding out the fantasy about the giant claims–i mean clams–would be the easiest.

   That part where food product labels “shall include . . . a translation in Baybayin” is unclear. Would it be similar to what is being done now for Muslims where there’s ‘Jalal’ in Arabic? Or will the translation also include the nutritional facts panel? That would be hellish to do. And in what language shall the translation be? Tagalog–este, Filipino?

   If they’re interested in hurrying it up, the usual bureaucratic way is to create a ‘National Script Commission’ to sort out the mess–how it will work with the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, i don’t know. If they don’t want it sounding Tagalog-centric they might continue calling it Alibata–false, but like ‘Filipino,’ it’s not ethnocentric hehe.

   That National Script Commission will then recommend the best way of implementing the law–and that would be then passed as the Implementing Rules and Regulations (heheh). It would now be the commission’s task on how to best tackle the food labels mandate; create and produce excellent teaching materials (hopefully, in consultation with the experts on Philippine Script/Sulat Pinoy); and take care of the still living Pinoy scripts used daily by our Mangyan, Palawan and … Kapampangan [if it’s modern and a hybrid, did the original die at some point?] brothers.

   “Is it a good idea for the government to implement something that appears yet to have a solid foundation?” Maybe not. But it’s not the first time government did it.

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   • Another commission will not work and will fail. More likely than not, they’ll just make this bill some sub-project of the Commission on the Filipino Language. Which we all know nothing much happened (their main job was to create/develop the Filipino language by taking and incorporating words from at least the major languages of the Philippines; and to adapt to new emerging scientific and technological terminologies).

     There are so many factors to consider and so many angles to look at. It’s good nonetheless.

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4. As much as this excites me, I think it is too early to pass something like this when we don’t even have a standardized modern version of the Baybayin script that can at least be used to represent all the letters found in the modern Filipino alphabet that we use today.

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   • I don’t think there is a need to represent every Latin letters in Baybayin. If we do that, it will lose ground – there is already a writing system for that.

     Baybayin is a native script that was designed for Philippine Languages, particularly Tagalog. I can’t think of any “Filipino” (not just Tagalog) word that use the letters: Cc, Ff, Jj, Ññ, Qq, Vv, Xx, Zz. Well, you can argue “Filipino” itself, the name of our National Language, uses “F”. No problem, we can do just what our North-Eastern neighbors do – write it in Latin. Like so:

     ᜁᜆᜓ ᜀᜌ᜔ ᜈᜃᜐᜓᜎᜆ᜔ ᜐ ᜊᜌ᜔ᜊᜌᜒᜈ᜔᜶ ᜀᜅ ᜄᜋᜒᜆ᜔ ᜃᜓᜅ᜔ ᜏᜒᜃ ᜀᜌ᜔ Tagalog᜶ ᜀᜅ ᜀᜃᜒᜅ᜔ ᜉᜈᜎᜈ᜔ ᜀᜌ᜔ JC John᜵ ᜈ ᜋᜀᜀᜍᜒ ᜍᜒᜅ᜔ ᜁᜐᜓᜎᜆ᜔ ᜈ ᜑᜓᜏᜈ᜔᜶

     ^_^

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     • I am not just talking about Filipino. The Modern Filipino Alphabet also covers other dialects in the Philippines. That is why I am suggesting that the modern script should at least complete the said alphabet. I have been trying to look at vocabulary from the different dialects in the Philippines and so far, haven’t found a word with an ‘X’ on it so that can be excluded. The others are found in a lot of our dialects. Filipino is or, more correctly, should be a fusion of the different dialects in the Philippines. I believe that refusing to create a writing system that can also be used for dialects is basically regionalism all over again. That is what I am trying to avoid… You can’t please everyone but we can at least please most of them.

       By the way, our dialects are literally peppered with words of foreign origin (especially Spanish). Since we have already used these words for so many years, I believe that they are already ours, regardless of their origin.

       Whenever I introduce someone to the Baybayin script, I always refer them to a page that explains the difference between Baybayin and Alibata. I also refer to our national language as Filipino and not Tagalog.

       Thank you for giving your opinion regarding the matter. (^^,)

     • (Super late reply :p )

       That’s what I meant, Philippine languages doesn’t actually include the “borrowed” letters until after the Spaniards conquered Luzon and Visayas (remember, they never conquered Mindanao, they were always defeated).

       Can you check every word with the said borrowed letters if these were in use/existence prior to the colonization of Luzon and Visayas by the Spaniards? If these letters were in used already during the pre-Hispanic era, then we need representations of those in Baybayin, otherwise, I really think there’s no need to.

       Best example here are the Chinese languages, Korean language, and Japanese language. They did not invent a new character just so they can write words with foreign letters in their own respective scripts. What they do is they write these words in Latin, which is especially useful to signify that these are “loan” words (or “borrowed” as is commonly called in our schools).

       Secondly why I’m against it. Because keeping it unique will keep it’s purpose alive. If suddenly we have all letters represented in Baybayin, then there is no need at all to waste effort, money, and time to teach this script. What for? Getting where I’m coming from? When there’s the Latin script already, why teach another script that have every letter in the Modern Filipino Alphabet?

       And about the “Filipino” language. The Filipino language is, indeed, a fusion of the major Philippine languages (and some minor). That was its purpose. That’s why it was created. Unfortunately, the governments that followed after its creation did not give importance to it. They created the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, but with the lack of proper funding and attention (as I believe), nothing happened. If I remember correctly, the Commission left the job to the top universities of the country like UP, UST, La Salle, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, to name a few. That’s why we were seeing new words like “kompyuter” and “titser” in the past decades.

       The major reason it was created was also to remove the debate about which language should be declared as the National Language of the country (other than English). Pilipino was born, which later was renamed to “Filipino”. And there’s a story behind why the “Pilipino” fusion language was later renamed to “Filipino” 😉

       The Filipino language is mainly Tagalog language because it has to start with something. It will take decades to start from scratch, and as history have shown us, even with a basis language, we still failed in developing this new, “unifying” language.

       Going back, Baybayin is for Philippine languages not for the “Filipino” language. Philippine languages doesn’t have the borrowed letters until after we were conquered by the Spaniards (as far as my research and reading goes). The pre-Hispanic period was where Baybayin came from and as such it was sufficient for all the languages we now know as “Philippine Languages” (major or minor).

       The “Filipino” language was created for the modern times and as such incorporated the “borrowed” letters and even words as part of the “Filipino” language. So when we consider F and C for example, these two letters are _not_ “borrowed” letters in the Filipino language. But if you talk about the *traditional* languages, these are borrowed letters.

       So, Filipino uses Latin, and if I remember correctly, it was mandated that “Filipino” be written in “Latin”. However, the “traditional” languages of the country doesn’t have any mandates to use Latin or whatever writing system. Baybayin can fill this – once again, as it has in pre-Hispanic history.

       For example, you don’t or should not write “titser” in Baybayin because it is a “Filipino” word. One has to translate it into any Philippine language word first, for example, translate it in Tagalog first which is “guro”, then you can write it in Baybayin as “ᜄᜓᜍᜓ”. Or in Pampango “talaturu” then write it in Baybayin as “ᜆᜎᜆᜓᜍᜓ”. Or in Bisaya: “magtutudlo” then write it in Baybayin as “ᜋᜄ᜔ᜆᜓᜆᜓᜇ᜔ᜎᜓ”.

       Baybayin as-is is more than enough to cover all the major languages in the Philippines, even minor, if I dare say. Filipino and Latin are for each other. While Baybayin and any Philippine languages are for each other.

       And as we all know, many of the major and some minor languages already have their version of Baybayin. Instead of making Baybayin an “alternate” of Latin script, we should maintain it unique and keep its purpose intact. We can for example, incorporate the changes and additions of the Baybayin versions in Kapampangan and Bisaya.

       Finally, we need a new team to “guard” and “guide” the development of Baybayin. We need a body that will discuss and be open for debate, on the rules of Baybayin and what is its scope. Which _existing_ “upgrades” should be incorporated — and by “existing” I mean, there is historical evidence of it being used extensively – this effectively eliminates the additions made by a lot of people which only them or their coterie uses.

       Unify all the native writing scripts instead of creating an “alternative to” Latin. We don’t need an alternative, and the anti’s out there will hit us hard if we insist on going down that path. Baybayin-collectively should stay as-is. Our native languages, or as DepEd now calls “mother-tongue” languages can be written in Baybayin.

       Words with the borrowed letters are part of the “Filipino” language and should stay written as Latin.

       P.S.
       Don’t confuse languages and dialects 😉
       1) Filipino = is a language
       2) Tagalog = is a language; is _not_ a dialect of Filipino language
       3) Batangueño = is a dialect of Tagalog language
       4) Bikolano = is a language; is _not_ a dialect of Filipino language
       5) Pandan = is a dialect of the Bikolano language (it is the Bikolano version of those in Northern Catanduanes)
       6) Buhi-Daraga = is a dialect of the Bikolano language; also known as “Albay Bikolano”
       7) Kinaray-a = is a language; is _not_ a dialect of the Filipino language
       and so on.

       ^_^

       P.S.2
       I am not anti-Spanish era. In fact, I strongly support the use of vowel-cancellation as introduced by the Spaniards called “virama” (I don’t care if it’s a plus sign or an x sign). The reason why I’m pointing to the pre-Hispanic era is because when the Spaniards arrived, they messed up the Philippine languages. They introduced a lot of additions and words that benefitted them. It is a far cry from “language development”, our languages were tampered and deviated from its natural development course.

       If we stayed independent, we would have developed the same systems as our North-Eastern neighbors – the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, who writes in Latin borrowed words, or create a translation of it so they stop “borrowing” – but never adding new characters into their own native/mother-tongue language(s).

       Filipino is to Latin; Latin is to Filipino. And Philippine Native Languages is to Baybayin; Baybayin is to Philippine Mother-Tongue Languages.

       That’s my stance. 🙂

     • I mixed modern Filipino alphabet( C,F,Ñ,Q,R,V,X,Y,Z) in writing BAYBAYIN….,with the same rules in writIng the BAYBAYIN…,
       Tagalog language is used nationwide because it can be understood by majority of the Filipino..,why not use also the TAGALOG BAYBAYIN as the standard BAYBAYIN characters….,

       I’m a Bachelor of Education student,…and in K-12 Curriculum the local language is used in instruction in every region (mother-tongue) but they also used Tagalog and English at the same time(multilingual).
       Following this principle,..we can teach this standard BAYBAYIN characters to the Kapampangan,Mangyan ,Palawan,atbp. together with there LOCAL BAYBAYIN.Those characters are closely related…naman diba?

       I’m very interested to join with an active organization that promote BAYBAYIN….hoping that you can help me…thank you….
       …..e-mail me @ piscesblue92@gmail.com,..

     • #JCJohn Sese Cuneta.Good Day. I agree with you. May I know your references, source (person,books or blog etc.). Because we have a Thesis Entitled Baybayin Buhayin : Isang Pananaliksik anf I really need to know the source for Thesis Defense..I am hoping for your response. Thank you!

5. Let’s keep the Filipino heritage alive. I hope this bill passes but let’s accept the fact that baybayin is not a household name especially amongst younger people.

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6. Baybayin should be modernized. Additional characters must be created and existing ones refined. Similar to the japanese katakana were every syllables has its own equivalent character.

   new fonts should also be created because the existing ones restrict the feel of the characters as tribal.

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7. Definitely there will be many problems that need resolution before the Baybayin Script can truly reintegrate itself back into Philippine writing and culture.

   I agree that there first needs to be a standardization of the script, including the representation of /e/, /o/, and /r/, the virama, and how to properly deal with the representation of sounds native to the other Philippine languages, and how to deal with unassimilated foreign words, whether that means creating new symbols for those, use the Latin alphabet, or both depending on context.

   Then there is also the issue of preserving the scripts that have lasted beyond the Spanish Colonial period. Those ethnics groups should be lauded for holding steadfast to what many of us consider a valuable part of Philippine culture. This bill could morph into another imperial Manila vs. the provinces issue, as what happened with debate on the national language.

   I predict that if this bill even comes close to passage, there will be fierce debate coming from many different sides. There will be those who advocate the implementation of the script as it was before the Spanish arrived. There will be those who will want to include the Lopez reforms as well as a few more conservative reforms. There will be those who advocate more radical reforms. There will be those who will outright reject the script as some sort of nationalistic, uneconomical backward, and impractical way of promoting “Filipino” culture, whatever connotations that implies.

   I guess if I propose a method of reform, I would suggest staying preserve the integrity of the script as much as possible, making as few changes as possible but enough to allow the proper representation of all the native sounds of the Philippine languages, /e/ /o/ and /r/ are the most commonly accept reforms. Then for foreign words, look to the Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Arabic, languages and scripts, for they all make foreign words conform to their phonology and orthography, and if necessary use the Latin script where appropriate. For all these cultures learned how absorb these words without inadvertently diffusing their own culture. Sure when transliterating this words back they will definitely look and sounds funny to the speakers of the langauges those words came from, but Filipinos definitely have a strong accent. It would be like the old Abakada system.

   Adaptive Reuse is the key.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Thank you for the great news about this bill. To Fil-Am university student who’s studying Philippine Studies as his Minor, this is exciting.

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   • We do the “conform” thing already. It was made possible through the “Filipino” language but not on any Philippine languages (like Tagalog, Bisaya, etc.).

     Under the “Filipino” language, we can write/use: kompyuter; internet; wikipidya; disket; etc. We can even write/use: lengwahe (correct) or lenguahe (spanish-style) instead of “wika”.

     Problem is, the Commission tasked to take care of the development of the “Filipino” language is invisible. They left the tasked to the top universities, who themselves doesn’t collaborate. So we end up seeing different variations, rules, whatever.

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8. I think the number 1 item in that bill should be Section 4. I would love to see baybayin included in the school curriculum. Before relabeling products, there should be an education agenda to teach the kids the script and it’s history. I believe this is where the bill should focus first because this is how (in my opinion) baybayin will become integrated and accepted smoothly. Although, not necessay quickly. I like Tommy’s proposal of a National Script Commission to ensure the proper things are taught at school. Education should be done as the first phase, then the next phase is labeling some things and then another to label other things etc.

   I wish this would have been done when I was going to school in the Philippines. Maybe they did, I was just not paying attention.

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   • Oh, they did, during my time. It’s known as “Alibata” not “Baybayin”. Even today, go talk to any Filipino if they know what Baybayin is, they’ll say “no”. Ask them if they know “Alibata”, they’ll say “yes”.

     You even try showing them the script and ask them what it is. If they can’t answer it, give them two choices: Baybayin or Alibata?

     Point is, Filipinos are aware of the script, they just know it by the wrong name “Alibata”, thanks to our education system, that’s what they teach to this day.

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9. I just hope that this will really materialize. The botom-line of this thing was to use baybayin as a way of life for the Filipinos. It lies in the enforcement of the government and the private sectors to really implement and create a standard equivalent for the language. If ever the bill would pass, I think it will have to undergo a standardization just like what happened in formulating our national language today. It’s not about whose right or who’s the supreme transliteration, It’s about being a Filipino and having the unity to revive that’s really for us and for our identity.

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10. It’s a good move, but too early. Personally I write in Baybayin but only when I write in Tagalog. Since that is the only Philippine regional language that I know very well, I have yet to experiment with other Philippine languages, and I do have a hard time writing Baybayin using the modern Filipino ortography. Probably with more revisions, revisions that are more universally Filipino in spirit instead of Tagalog-centric, it will indeed work. Nonetheless, I support this bill and would like to see it mature as time flies.

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11. In general, the thought of preserving the culture of our country is a great idea. But as Mr. Christian Cabuay said, there are many questions that will be raised by our fellow Filipinos. Before this act is implemented, I guess the Congress should have provided answers for these inquiries first. But don;t get me wrong, I like the idea of sculpting Baybayin into the hearts and minds of our youth. 🙂

    One more question, how about the college students who are also interested in studying Baybayin so they would understand the writings on different Filipino products when this is implemented. And for me, I also want to learn this. I’m a college student, though, and this act says that Baybayin will only be taught to primary and secondary school. 😐

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12. hindi tama yan, di lang naman Tagalog lahat ng tao rito at sa mga Tagalog nagmula ang Baybayin, may Kapampangan na sumusulat ng Kulitan, Tagbanwa na sumusulat ng Hanunoo, at marami pang iba. napaka-ethnocentric naman yata na dapat palaging nangingibabaw ang mga Tagalog? Tagalog ako ngunit Kapampangan din.

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    • Tagbanuwa and Hanunóo are just modern ways of writing Baybayin. When you compare them to the many examples of ordinary handwriting from the 1600s, the differences are really insignificant. The same goes for the various “regional” samples in books written down by Spaniards and other foreign observers. They are just clumsy copies written down by people not used to writing the script, and they all are just variations that agree with ordinary 17th century handwriting with a few idiosyncratic exceptions in a sample here, a sample there. It’s all the same script.

      As for kulitan, it’s a modern variety of Baybayin, a specific style based on letter shapes form kapampangan regional samples as written in books by Spaniards and an unusual spelling system clearly based on Korean Han’gul and a preoccupation with writing long vowels so you can tell them apart from short vowels. There are only a few documents known to have a specifically Kapampangan writing style in them; of these, I have seen two, and the main differences are in a few letters that are different from the usual shapes found elsewhere and in the way syllable final consonants are written. There is something similar for syllable final consonants in the modern Kapampangan style, but there is no evidence at all that Kapampangans in the 17th century wrote this way.

      There are still many things that are not well understood about the Philippine script. There is a lot of information available that people don’t know about, that I am bringing together to publish hopefully over the next year or so. What I can say is that the Philippine script is for all intents and purposes a single script with only slight variation around the country, and this includes the Kapampangan writing style that clearly seems to be recent in origin and worthy of special recognition for its special artistic and calligraphic properties. As long as all of these are recognised as different expressions of the Philippine national script, Paul Verzosa’s “Pangbansang Titik nang Pilipinas”, there is no danger of Tagalocentrism.

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    • I mixed modern Filipino alphabet( C,F,Ñ,Q,R,V,X,Y,Z) in writing BAYBAYIN….,with the same rules in writIng the BAYBAYIN…,
      Tagalog language is used nationwide because it can be understood by majority of the Filipino..,why not use also the TAGALOG BAYBAYIN as the standard BAYBAYIN characters….,

      I’m a Bachelor of Education student,…and in K-12 Curriculum the local language is used in instruction in every region (mother-tongue) but they also used Tagalog and English at the same time(multilingual).
      Following this principle,..we can teach this standard BAYBAYIN characters to the Kapampangan,Mangyan ,Palawan,atbp. together with there LOCAL BAYBAYIN.Those characters are closely related…naman diba?

      Reply

13. I think the Philippine Congress prioritize the issues today. It could be impossible to implement the National Script Act of 2011.

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14. I am quite surprised that there already is a bill for implementing Baybayin in our country. How long have I been dreaming of this, when Philippine culture can be inundated by all these beautiful characters. Reading it though, I feel a bit squeamish that the bill proposes to jump the gun and implement an un-standardized Baybayin to major facets of our society, particularly business! (I am one of those who find it currently impractical to replace the Latin alphabet with our own – as they are the characters of modern business and commerce.)

    I think we need to slow down for a bit. If we do indeed pass the bill, it can be suggested that the course be some sort of an appreciation course. The transition cannot be done overnight. For the meantime, let the art gain traction with an increasing number of people by further educating them, and then perhaps we can decide on a standard which all of us — whether Bisaya, Ilocano o Tagalog — can be proud of.

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15. IM NOT IN FAVOR WITH THAT BILL…. IT’S REALLY A HINDRANCE TO OUR PART LEARNING AN ALPHABET WHICH WE DO NOT USE IN OUR NATIVE AND PROUD LANGUAGE CALLED-CHAVACANO!

    SINCE IM A LATINO ZAMBOANGUEÑO, WE SPEAK OUR OWN DIALECT CALLED-ZAMBOANGUEÑO. ZAMBOANGUEÑO DIALECT IS ONE OF THE SIX DIALECTS OF CHAVACANO LANGUAGE. THUS, WE’RE USING LATIN & SPANISH ALFABETO. WE EVEN HAVE OUR OWN ALFABETO AND WE CALL IT “ABECEDARIO”. WE HAVE OUR OWN RULES AND REGULATION AS TO HOW TO PRONOUNCE EACH LETTER IN OUR ABECEDARIO AS FOLLOWS.

    A a /a/    -amargoso – bitter melon
    B be /be/   -barco -ship
    C ce /se/   -corta -to cut, cerrado -closed (note: “C” is pronounce as “se” if it followed by vowel “e” & “i”, and it is also pronounce as “ke” if it followed by a vowel “a”, “e”, “o” & “u”
    CH che /tʃe/   -chavacano -a Spanish-Based Creole Language and the common name of the six dialects namely: Caviteño, Ermiteño, Ternateño, Cotabateñ, Castellano Abakay and Zamboangueño. it is also the Official language of Zamboanga City and the Lingua Franca of Basilan Province, and recognized minority and main language of Semporna-Sabbah, Malaysia.
    D de /de/   -donde -where
    E e /e/   -ele -s/he
    F efe /ˈefe/   -falta -lacking
    G ge /xe/   -Gordo -fat/lipid
    H hache /ˈatʃe/   -hondo -deep
    I i /i/   -interogacion -interrogation
    J jota /ˈxota/   -Jota Zamboanga -a popular dance of zamboanga city which has influence from latin.
    K ka /ka/   -kilo -kilo
    L ele /ˈele/   -luego -later
    LL elle /ˈeʎe/   -lleno -full
    M eme /ˈeme/   memoria -memory
    N ene /ene/   -nombre -name
    Ñ eñe /ˈeɲe/   -caña -bamboo, mañana -tomorrow
    O o /o/   -ojala -hopefully
    P pe /pe/   -por que -why, porque -because
    Q cu /ku/   -Que tal -how are you
    R ere /ˈeɾe/   -ralo -rare, riza -smile/laughter
    RR erre /ˈere/   -cerra -to close
    S ese /ˈese/   -silla -chair, santo -saint
    T te /te/   -tanto -a little, little, not so
    U u /u/    -urbanizado/a -urbanized
    V uve /ˈube/    -verdad -true
    W doble u /ˈdoble u/   -waras -get mad/ out of control
    X equis /ˈekis/   -conexon -connection
    Y ye /ɟʝe/   -yede -foul odor
    Z  zeta /ˈseta/   -corazon -heart, zapatos -shoes.
        zeda /ˈseda/  

    the best thing to do is to remove the Tagalog subject thus, making each language of respective places where the respective language is spoken as part of the curriculum and/or to be teach in schools, and let English/Spanish as the universal language of our country.

    ADIOS A TODOS Y DIOS TE BENDIGANOS!!!

    Reply

    • How about making a Chavacano website, art, translator, book or applications?
      I see and understand your passion but ranting on an unrelated blog post will
      do nothing to further your cause.

      Reply

    • “the best thing to do is to remove the Tagalog subject thus, making each language of respective places where the respective language is spoken as part of the curriculum and/or to be teach in schools, and let English/Spanish as the universal language of our country.”
      …..not a good idea…

      I mixed modern Filipino alphabet( C,F,Ñ,Q,R,V,X,Y,Z) in writing BAYBAYIN….,with the same rules in writIng the BAYBAYIN…,
      Tagalog language is used nationwide because it can be understood by majority of the Filipino..,why not use also the TAGALOG BAYBAYIN as the standard BAYBAYIN characters….,

      I’m a Bachelor of Education student,…and in K-12 Curriculum the local language is used in instruction in every region (mother-tongue) but they also used Tagalog and English at the same time(multilingual).
      Following this principle,..we can teach this standard BAYBAYIN characters to the Kapampangan,Mangyan ,Palawan,atbp. together with there LOCAL BAYBAYIN.Those characters are closely related…naman diba?

      Reply

16. nice law!!! congratz!!

    Reply

17. Pingback: Looking for Baybayin food label translators | Baybayin.com (incorrectly known as Alibata) art, translations and tutorials

18. This is a good step to our development. Culturally and Economically. THIS SHOULD BE PASSED.

    Reply

19. Since Alibata is historically incorrect and non-Tagalogs consider Baybayin as being too Tagalog-centric, why can’t we just call the Philippine Script as Sulat/Surat/Suwat Pilipino as the regional language would have it? That one Filipino language has yet to evolve (or is already evolving). Though it is necessary to start with, no amount of legislation can create one national language. It will just come out through the dynamics of continuous use, whether spoken or written, by the people. Congress should do the same to the national script. Legislate it, make it a part of the basic education curriculum, and popularize it in business billboards and product labels. There’s no wrong about it. Those acts will facilitate mainstreaming it! Congress should approve that national script bill!

    Reply

20. What is the current update of this bill? na’implement na po ba eto ngayon?

    Reply

21. Pingback: Baybayin and The Cybercrime Law | Baybayin.com – Christian Cabuay

22. This is what i’m looking for.. for years. We really need this script because it is our soul as Filipinos. This will answer the identity crisis of Filipino people.

    Reply

23. I mixed modern Filipino alphabet( C,F,Ñ,Q,R,V,X,Y,Z) in writing BAYBAYIN….,with the same rules in writIng the BAYBAYIN…,
    Tagalog language is used nationwide because it can be understood by majority of the Filipino..,why not use also the TAGALOG BAYBAYIN as the standard BAYBAYIN characters….,

    I’m a Bachelor of Education student,…and in K-12 Curriculum the local language is used in instruction in every region (mother-tongue) but they also used Tagalog and English at the same time(multilingual).
    Following this principle,..we can teach this standard BAYBAYIN characters to the Kapampangan,Mangyan ,Palawan,atbp. together with there LOCAL BAYBAYIN.Those characters are closely related…naman diba?

    I’m very interested to join with an active organization that promote BAYBAYIN….hoping that you can help me…thank you….
    …..e-mail me @ piscesblue92@gmail.com,..

    Reply

24. There are many kinds of BAYBAYIN. Tagalog alone has FIVE Baybayin varieties. That is why Tomás Pinpin, the Prince of Filipino printers, way back in 1573 ABOLISHED ALL THE BAYBAYINS for being divisive and adopted the Spanish Latin alphabet to print the first Doctrina Cristiana books and even his poems. Francisco Baltazar uses the same orthography for his literary works like the Florante at Laura.

    There are many kinds of Baybayin scripts that are totally different from one another. There is the Ubaya script of the Visayans, the kulitan script of the Kapampangans, the scripts of the Mangyans, Comintangs , Ilocanos, and of the Tagabanuas. But why are we going to legislate the nationalization of an ancient script which is not Filipino in the first place?

    Are we trying to deliberately destroy our true Filipino identity using our false nationalism based on our hatred towards the Spaniards who are the creators of our Filipino national identity? Is this the extent of our false nationalism? And is this the orthographical disunity the kind of Philippines that we want?

    Reply

    • Although you are right in some points, I cannot agree that Baybayin is not Filipino, and the Spaniards certainly aren’t the creators of our Filipino national identity. Although I concede that the Spanish have played a big role, and in fact did try to keep Baybayin alive, they did not solely create our national identity. Furthermore, I disagree that the alphabets are totally different for they are sister scripts and characteristics are shared between them, but i concede that knowing one will not help with the other.

      Think of it like the Chinese, they also had a number of different scripts but through nationalization and unity, the Chinese created a standardized character system which could have been done with Filipino scripts.

      A writing system does not define hatred but rather an appreciation of the pre-Colonial past. I for example love the Spanish language and culture, but I also love the past for it can tell us many stories. I believe that by understanding the past, it can help bolster our pride rather than destroy it simply because we can know more of the past then we ever had known before through story. If this law were to pass, maybe instilling both Latin-Alphabet and Baybayin as national systems would be better because of course the Latin Alphabet is very helpful in learning many different languages.

      Reply

25. Any news about this in 2016?

    Reply

26. Wala pa po aong nakikitang paaralan na nagtuturo ng baybayin. Sana po may makita ako. Gusto ko din po matuto nito.

    Reply

27. You can download the copy of the bill by searching baybayin in the official website of the house of representatives (http://www.congress.gov.ph/legisdocs/#HistoryModal)

    Reply

    • The bill is now approved by the house committee

      Reply