Giants Filipino Heritage Jeepney with incorrect Baybayin

Posted on by


1st of all, this is a cool looking jeep. Unfortunately, the Baybayin on it is incorrect. I really hope they didn’t make these yet. While it does translate “Filipino Heritage” from a character to character perspective, it’s not the same if you were to say it. Here’s a rundown of some of the issues….

1) It would be better to translate it to Tagalog or any other Filipino language. In my opinion, the best would be Pamana ng Pilipino or Pamanang. That would translate in Baybayin as:

Pa-Ma-Na-Na-Pi-Li-Pi-No

2) If transliteration was the aim, the pronunciation is also incorrect. What’s on the jeep is He-Ri(Di)-Ta-Ge for Heritage. The “Ta” sound is Tao, not Te like in Tejano. The “Ge” used is not a J sound like in Jerry. It’s “Ga” as in Gago.

The “translation” on the is what one would get by using an online translator without context or understanding of the language.

The lesson is, ask 1st. There are numerous people out there that are willing to help out for FREE.

Looks cool though 🙂

Learn Baybayin at Folklorama, Winnipeg

Posted on by

Paul Morrow will be at Folklorama, Winnipeg 8/1-14 teaching Baybayin and doing name translations. From his Facebook page:

It’s the largest and longest running multicultural event in the world. The Pilipino Express is organizing the cultural display at the Nayong Pilipino pavilion. I’ll be explaining the baybayin script and transcribing names for the visitors.

WTF: Bench Alibata stamps

Posted on by

Musa snapped some photos of “Alibata” stamps by Philippine mega clothing retailer BENCH for their PinoyLab line. I didn’t see them for sale on their site but I assume they are real and are on display in their store. While I applaud their intention, it misguided in my opinion. Besides the misnomer of Alibata and calling it an alphabet, they added additional characters outside the base 17. I don’t have a problem with the + cancellation kudlit. I do have an issue with the expanded set (C, J, Q, Z, X) made popular by Bayani Mendoza. What’s bad about this is that it will confuse people. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for modernizing the script but we have to get the basics 1st. Walk before running. This is flying before crawling. You don’t learn Baybayin just by looking at a chart. You also need context.

EVENT: Bamboo Park, San Jose CA

Posted on by

I’ll be in San Jose, CA on Sunday June 27, 2010 Bamboo Park (across from the HP Pavillion) for Silicon Valley’s largest outdoor celebration of Pilipino Art and Culture.

I’ll have new art prints from my work in the Boracay as well as other hard to find items for sale (DVDs, books, CDRoms, etc). Also, I’m putting together a mini exhibit of Baybayin items I found in the Philippines while filming my Baybayin documentary.

As always, FREE materials and name translations from myself and Ray from Malaya Designs.

SUNDAY JUNE 27 2010
@ The Arena Greens (Across from HP Pavilion)
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
FREE to the public
An all ages event!

bamboopark.org