Indigenous languages of Phl negritos must be saved says Legarda

 “Our actions and inaction have placed indigenous peoples’
lives on the line, despoiled their lands, threatened
 their culture and deprived them of their rights.
Our eyes were opened to the depth and
diversity of the challenges our IPs face. The question
 I now pose to everyone of us: How sincerely will
 we address these issues that affect our IPs’ very
 survival?,” Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate
 Committee on Cultural Communities points out in
 her keynote speech at the National Indigenous
 Peoples Cultural Summit in Manila.

MANILA, November 3, 2011-Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate Cultural Communities today bats for the preservation of the country’s indigenous languages where according to Defenders of the Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago (DILA) 2003 study, the 32 known languages of the Negritos here are already endangered as she expressed support over current efforts to save such heritage.

She stressed that many of our indigenous languages would face extinction if we fail to preserve and promote these kinds of national heritage. Language is not only part of our culture and history but also an important aspect of our identity as a nation.

The Senator said that according to the DILA, several native languages have become endangered due to social and economic forces.

“Many indigenous peoples groups have chosen to abandon their mother tongue and have shifted to languages that are perceived as superior because it would make them easier to become part of the community that they live in and opens greater economic opportunities particularly in employment,” Legarda said, explaining that one of the proposed solutions by the DILA to save the country’s indigenous languages is the Mother Tongue Based Multi Lingual Education (MTB-MLE) with a Culture-Based Curriculum (CBC)—an approach that uses the first language or mother tongue as medium of instruction in the child’ early years of education and which is now being undertaken by the Department of Education.

Legarda pointed out that studies have shown that the use of the first language as the medium of instruction contributes to students’ better performance in school. Thus, the Mother Tongue Based Multi Lingual Education is a mechanism we can use to save our languages and help our children learn more effectively.

Legarda concluded that majority of Filipinos use Tagalog and English, but this does not mean we must care less or abandon our indigenous languages, which are in fact the first languages of our ancestors. It is only right and just that we preserve these languages as a sign of our respect for our history and heritage. (Jason de Asis)