David Michael M.

San Juan
1) Filipino as medium of instruction at all levels is a mandatory
provision of the Philippine Constitution (Article XIV, Section 6): “The
national language of the Philippines is Filipino…the Government shall
take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of
official communication and as language of instruction in the
educational system.”
2) Using Filipino as a medium of instruction in college will only be
effective if Filipino is taught as a subject/discipline too.
3) In the era of globalization and imminent Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Integration, Filipinos should
further strengthen their own language, literature, and culture, as part
of our contribution to the project of global and regional socio-
cultural integration.
4) Expanding and further developing what students have learned
in junior and senior high school is necessary. Hence, there is a need
for at least a Filipino subject in college, as a number of subjects in the
senior high school curriculum have parallel or related subjects in the
new General Education Curriculum.
5) Skills for Filipino language and Philippine literature are included in
the College Readiness Standards (CRS) contained in CHED’s Resolution
No. 298-2011, hence including Filipino language and literature subjects
in college is a must, if the CRS is to be genuinely useful. Such subjects
will ensure that skills learned in high school will be further developed
in college.
6) The National Achievement Test (NAT) results for Filipino are still
below DepEd’s own standards for mastery. Hence, retaining Filipino as
a college subject will ensure that the necessary task of improving
students’ facility of the Filipino language beyond the secondary level
is accomplished.
7) The content of the Filipino senior high school curriculum cannot
cover all content and skills currently taught in college.
8) Filipino is the national language and language of political
democratization as it is spoken by 99% of the population. It is the most
effective language of national public discourse. It is the soul of our
country’s identity and culture. Giving it some space in all levels of
education is a must. Obliterating it is obliterating ourselves and our
collective identity.
9) In K to 12 countries such as the United States of America, Malaysia,
and Indonesia, national language and/or literature are part of the
mandatory core courses in their college curriculum.
10) Filipino subjects designed in a multi/interdisciplinary way are
feasible, as proven by the dozens of proposals submitted to CHED
by various institutions and organizations.
11) The inclusion of the national language in the college curriculum is a
relatively new thing, compared with the inclusion of the English language
and literature in the college curriculum. It is about time this historical
injustice is remedied.
12) Filipino is a global language taught in more than 80 schools,
institutions, and universities abroad (in some cases, full bachelor’s
degree and/or master’s degree are also offered). Obliterating the
space for Filipino and Philippine Studies at the tertiary level in Philippine
colleges and universities will certainly negatively affect the status of
Filipino as a global language.
• Filipino is an imposition of “Imperial
Manila”

• Filipino is merely Tagalog.

• The Use of Filipino is detrimental to other

Philippine languages.

• It is more practical to use English rather

than Filipino as the country’s Lingua
Franca.
• Using Filipino as a medium of
instruction will negatively affect
students’ facility with the English
language.

• Filipino subjects from elementary to

senior high school are sufficient.
• Countries that use foreign language/s
as medium of instruction in college
are more developed than countries
that use their national language/s; our
people’s English language skills bring
huge foreign investments, hence
English must be prioritized over
Filipino.
• Filipino is not yet intellectualized; it
cannot be utilized as a medium of
instruction in college.