Senators hit exclusion of Filipino, Panitikan as core college courses

Senators on Friday expressed opposition to the Supreme Court decision excluding Filipino and Panitikan as core college courses.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said the Commission on Higher Education should bring back the two subjects in the core curriculum for college.

“Marami pa tayong [puwedeng] matutunan sa mga sekreto ng ating sariling wika at sa ganda at lalim ng ating panitikan. Hindi natatapos ang pagbubuklat ng mga sekretong ito at ang patuloy na [pagkabighani] sa ganda ng ating panitikan,” Pimentel said in a text message to GMA News Online.

“Puwedeng-puwede pa sana na maituloy ito sa lebel ng kolehiyo. Dapat ibalik ng [CHED] ito sa core curriculum sa kolehiyo,” he added.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said that as Filipinos, the people should be nationalistic enough to enrich the vocabulary and knowledge of the youth in the native tongue.

He said if those concerned have not noticed, children seldom talk to each other or among themselves in Filipino and if they try to speak in the vernacular, they occasionally struggle finding the right Filipino word so they resort to find the substitute English word.

“In sum, it doesn’t speak well of our culture and heritage as Filipinos. Marami nang mga bata na hindi marunong mag-Pilipino, eh samantalang Pinoy tayo. Nakakahiya yata ang sitwasyon na ‘yun,” he said in a separate text message.

Senator Francis Pangilinan said the policy excluding Filipino and Panitikan as core college courses should be set aside.

“The national language of any nation ought to be a core course,” he said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the exclusion of Filipino as a core subject in college goes against the spirit of Article XIV Sec. 6 of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “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.”

“We can see these days among the youth the lack of grasp of the Filipino language and by removing this as a core subject in college or any other school level, I fear this would deteriorate even further. The Filipino language is part of our identity as a people and as such we should strive to preserve and strengthen this at all times,” he said in a press statement.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said by removing Filipino and Panitikan in college, the said courses will be reduced to mere subjects in senior high school.

“I feel that Filipino subjects are not enough to thoroughly promote our language to the youth. Ang Filipino na alam natin ngayon ay nagiging [Taglish] na at mababaw. Mas mawawala na ang kaalaman ng mga kabataan sa mas malalim na paggamit ng Filipino ['pag] mawawala pa ito sa kolehiyo,” he said.

He said including Filipino in college will deepen the understanding and appreciation of the Filipino language to the people’s daily lives and encourage more youth to preserve the language as a vital connection to the nation's history.

Asked if a law is needed to bring back Filipino and Panitikan as core subjects, Senator Francis Escudero said he does not believe in legislating the curriculum.

“The curriculum must be a living document that is flexible to the changing times but at the same time not subject to mere whim. This can be done via executive fiat,” he said in a text message to GMA News Online.

Senator Joel Villanueva said teaching Filipino and Panitikan should be intensified in elementary and high school as these are important subjects in molding the minds of the Filipino people.

“Magandang pag-igihin at palakasin ang pagtuturo nito sa elementary at high school at pag[-]isipan mabuti ang curriculum na ipapaloob kung isasabatas ang pagtuturo nito sa kolehiyo. Ito ay upang hindi maging paulit[-]ulit, bagkos ay mapalakas at mapaigting ang pagmamahal natin sa ating wika at panitikan,” he said.

“Susuportahan ko po ang pagsasabatas ng ganitong inisyatibo,” he added. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ/AT, GMA News