CHED: We are not anti-Filipino for not requiring Filipino subjects in college

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Wednesday denied it is against the cultivation of the Filipino language even as it support its non-mandatory inclusion of Filipino language and literature in college education curriculum.

In a statement, CHED Chairperson Prospero de Vera III said promoting Filipino language is not limited to teaching it in schools.

"The accusation of critics that CHED is anti-Filipino is wrong," De Vera said.

"The Commission believes in the fundamental role played by language in education. To be properly cultivated, Filipino cannot merely be taught as a subject, but must be used in oral and written forms, across academic domains."

CHED issued the statement days after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of CHED's Memoradum 20, which delisted Filipino language and literature as mandatory subjects in college education curriculum.

"CHED did not abolish Filipino and Panitikan in the General Education Curriculum. Instead, these were transferred to the Senior High School level since these are important building blocks in the preparation of senior high students to be university-ready when they graduate," De Vera said.

Having said that, De Vera called on colleges and universities to exercise their academic freedom "to include innovative reforms in their various curricula that may include language proficiency not just in Filipino but also other Philippine languages such as Ilocano, Waray, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Pangasinan, Bicolano, and Asian languages that will make graduates regionally and globally competitive."

Likewise, De Vera assured the public that CHED will support colleges and universities that will pursue language innovation while providing scholarship and professional education assistance to affected Filipino and Panitikan teachers through the K to 12 Transition Program Fund. 

Director Mykel Andrada of Sentro ng Wikang Filipino in UP Diliman earlier said that while CHED's memo and the SC decision do not limit the academic freedom of universities and colleges to require additional courses in Filipino, Panitikan and the Constitution in their respective curricula, making them optional is tantamount to excluding the Filipino subjects anyway because CHED's memo and the SC ruling will be used by the colleges and universities as an excuse not to teach Filipino in the college level at all.

The 1987 Charter states that the national language of the Philippines is Filipino and that “as it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages."

Likewise, the Constitution provides that "the government should 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." —Llanesca T. Panti/KBK, GMA News