[Wikipedia-l] Filipino/Tagalog Wikipedia and the language situation in the Philippines

[Vincent "Bentong" S. Isles]

WARNING: Some parts of the ff. msg might be outdated
because of the creation of the Cebuano Wikipedia
<http://ceb.wikipedia.org/> on June 22. Thank you.


Guys,

I was not active yet with the Wikipedia when you
started voting whether to separate/merge the Tagalog
and Filipino Wikipedias.

As a Filipino though (a national of the Philippines,
not to be confused with 'one who speaks the Filipino
language'), I could tell you that the Filipino
language is ONE BIG, FAT LIE. There is, there has
never been, and (hopefully) there will never be a
Filipino language. What our national government is
calling "the Filipino 'language'" is actually the same
language the Tagalogs of Luzon are speaking. There was
never and there is no difference between "Tagalog" and
"Filipino".

The term Filipino is used by the Tagalogs, who is the
second most numerous ethnic group in the Philippines
(Cebuanos are first by about a million) and who is in
control of our government to make it easier for other
ethnic groups (not only us the Cebuanos, but also the
Warays, Pampangos, Pangasinense, etc.) to accept their
imposition of their language in us. In other words,
"Filipino" was invented to deceive us and to force
their language down our throats.

And in fact, the current Tagalog Wikipedia is NOT
following the latest orthographic rules laid down by
the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (Commission on the
Filipino Language, the governmental agency tasked with
regulating the Tagalog language). Last Dec. 2003 (if I
remember correctly), the KWF released a new version of
their ever-changing orthographic conventions, which
(of course) was never followed by textbook publishers,
media companies, and other entities involved with
publication -- even those Tagalog-owned. (In short:
their imposition of the language is one big mess. They
can't even force their rules on their own
'kababayans'.)

You can see that granting the Cebuano speakers a
Wikipedia in their own language is not only a matter
of extending the Wikipedia project to those who are
willing to extend it in their own languages but a
moral, ethical act on your part which could not only
save a language which is suffering from unjust
treatment from a misguided government but also give
its young speakers some semblance of hope and
something to be proud of of their own language.

So what do I suggest?
1. You give us our request -- which is to have a
Wikipedia in Cebuano.
2. You NEVER, NEVER allow a request for a Filipino
Wikipedia -- and instead tell the requesters to work
in the Tagalog Wikipedia.
3. You give the requests of the speakers of other
"minority" languages in the Philippines. (So far, only
Edwin -- for the Kapampangan language -- has
requested. We are hoping that the creation of Cebuano
and Kapampangan Wikipedias would inspire others.)


Matinahoron (Respectfully yours),

Vincent "Bentong" S. Isles
http://bentong.topcities.com/

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