House panel OKs bill declaring Baybayin the national writing system

The House Committee on Basic Education and Culture has approved a measure seeking to declare Baybayin, an ancient pre-Spanish era script of the Philippines, as the national writing system.

House Bill 1022 or the proposed "National Writing System Act," principally authored by Pangasinan Representative Leopoldo Bataoil, aims to generate awareness about the Baybayin script and foster a wider appreciation of its beauty and its importance as a tool for cultural and economic development.

“The importance of writing in general and of the alphabet in particular for the preservation and progress of civilization is incalculable,” Bataoil said in the explanatory note of his bill.

Under the bill, all manufacturers of locally produced processed food products will be required to inscribe Baybayin scripts and their translation on the containers of labels.

Local government units will also be mandated to include the proper Baybayin script on street name signs and signs for hospitals, fire and police stations, community centers, government halls, and other public service establishments.

Newspaper and magazine publishers will likewise be required to include a Baybayin translation of their names.

The measure also directs the appropriate government agency to disseminate knowledge and information about Baybayin through the distribution of reading materials in all public and private educational institutions as well as in government and private agencies and offices.

The bill has already received support from the Department of Education, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the advocacy group Baybayin, Buhayin.

The NCCA, in particular, will be tasked to protect, preserve and conserve Baybayin as a National Cultural Treasure.

The bill will also mandate the NCCA, together with DepEd, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Commission on Higher Education, to formulate its implementing rules and regulations. — BM, GMA News