And the word of the year is ... 'wang-wang!'

“Wang-wang," the word made famous by President Benigno “PNoy" C. Aquino III in his inaugural speech in June 2010, was declared “Salita ng Taon" during the Pambansang Kumperensiya sa Wika at Sawikaan 2012 that ended Saturday. The conference takes place only once every two years, hence the selection of a word that already seems dated, as opposed to other contenders like "palusot," which trended this year at the end of the Corona impeachment trial. David Michael M. San Juan, a faculty member in the Filipino Department of De La Salle University-Manila, defended the word “wang-wang." He noted that PNoy mentioned the word 20 times during the President’s inaugural speech. He also said that “wang-wang" is not found in Filipino/Tagalog dictionaries like Diksiyunaryo ng Wikang Filipino: Sentinyal Edisyon of Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino; English-Tagalog and Tagalog-English dictionaries of Fr. Leo James English; and Diksyunaryo-Tesaurong Pilipino-Ingles of Jose Villa Panganiban. Meanwhile, the second edition of U.P. Diksiyonaryong Filipino considers “wang-wang" a colloquial word that means “sirena ng kotse ng pulis." Therefore, there is a need to further study this word. In his paper, San Juan outlined seven reasons why “wang-wang" should be the word of the year: 1. “Hindi pa naisama sa mga diksiyonaryo ang bagong kahulugan nito sa kabila ng paglawak at pagsasanga-sanga ng kontemporaryong kahulugan nito; 2. Napatunayan na ang bisa ng ‘wang-wang’ sa pagbuhay sa pambansang diskurso hinggil sa mga makabuluhang isyu ng isang mahalagang aspekto ng demokrasya; 3. May potensiyal na manganak pa ng maraming salita tulad ng ‘bang-bang’ para sa extra-judicial killings; 4. Bahagi na ito ng ating kasaysayan dahil sa paggamit at pagpopularisa nito sa talumpati ng isa sa pinakapopular nating pangulo na si Noynoy Aquino; 5. Bantayog ng gunita ang salitang ‘wang-wang’ upang lagi nating alalahanin na hanggang ngayon, umiiral pa rin ang dambuhalang pagkakahating sosyo-ekonomiko at sosyo-politikal sa ating lipunan; 6. Nag-level up na ang ‘wang-wang’ nang ginamit ito ni PNoy at naging trending pa; at 7. Ang salitang ito’y may potensyal ding magpakilos ng mga mamamayan sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay-diin sa pinakabagong kahulugan nito." In concluding his paper, San Juan stated the great power of the new “wang-wang" word—“Ililigtas tayo ng salitang wang-wang sa luma nating sakit: ang pagsasawalangbahala sa mga usaping pambayan at ang pagkalimot sa ating mga tungkulin bilang mamamayan ng bansang Filipinas." Words like wang-wang will ultimately redeem Filipinos, he argued. This convinced the board of judges, made up of the officers and consultants of FIT, to declare it the word of the year. The second prize winners of Sawikaan 2012 are “level up" from poet Joselito de los Reyes and “pagpag" from John Enrico Torralba, a Palanca award-winning writer. Conference delegates also voted the presentation of De los Reyes as “People’s Choice." There was no third prize winner. Other nominated words were “trending," “SALN," “impeachment," “pick-up line," “palusot," “wagas," “android," “wifi," and “fish kill." “Wang-wang" is the latest addition to the list of Mga Salita ng Taon that includes “huweteng" from 2005, “lowbat" in 2006, “miskol" in 2007, and “jejemon" in 2010. FIT is an organization of writers, particularly of translators and Filipino language scholars, which is based at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. It was founded in 2007 with the aim of developing the national language to be the language of education and intellectual discourse in the Philippines. The group is the brainchild of National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario. Aside from organizing conferences, it also publishes books like Textanaga, Dalitext, and the latest Kayo ang Boss Ko sa Daang Matuwid, a compilation of selected speeches of PNoy in Filipino. The book was edited by two of FIT’s active officers -- Romulo P. Baquiran, Jr. and Michael M. Coroza, both award-winning poets in Filipino. The conference, held at the Ateneo de Manila University on 20-22 September, was organized by the Filipinas Institute of Translation (FIT), Inc. (Read: From 'Pick-up line' to 'Palusot': Sawikaan 2012 to select word of the year) Sawikaan takes place once every two years, alternating with Ambagan, a national conference where experts in the different regional and indigenous languages contribute words to the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino. Edited by Almario, the dictionary is a publication of the UP Sentro ng Wikang Filipino and Anvil Publishing. Sawikaan 2012 is co-sponsored by Wika ng Kultura at Agham, Inc, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, School of Humanities of Ateneo de Manila University, National Book Development Board, and the Commission on Higher Education. – YA/HS, GMA News