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With Independence Day just around the corner, Rappler wants to jumpstart a conversation on identity. Do you consider yourself Filipino? If so, what makes you Filipino? Tell us on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #PinoyAko or upload a 1-minute video to YouTube, or email us at desk@rappler.com with the subject line Pinoy Ako.
MANILA, Philippines – A lot of things can be said about how Filipinos stand out from the rest of the world. We’re a unique breed. We’re both Asians and non-Asians because of the cultural mix that we have.
But the issue is not how the world sees Filipinos, but how we Filipinos look at ourselves and position our identity in the global community.
I know I’m a Filipino because I know how to speak Filipino. Fine, I know Tagalog, but at least among the hundreds of languages across the archipelago, I know a set of vocabulary that no one else in the world knows.
Our language is – and should be – one of the sources of the Filipino pride. I love our language. (Don’t get me wrong. I use English now simply because Rappler delivers in this medium.)
That’s why I frown when I hear Manny Pacquiao struggle with English when he answers his post-fight interviews.
That’s why I pound on the table whenever I read on social media how some Pinoys diss our (and their own) language. That’s why I envy foreign government websites bannering their agencies’ names in their own language. (I like the sound of Hukbong Sandatahan and Pambansang Sinupan better than Armed Forces and National Archives.)
If you ask me, I’d love to see English dropped from our official languages, but I’m all for including it in our education curriculum.
Filipino is our language, and it will grow if we use it always, not just more often. – Rappler.com
Do you agree? Share your thoughts with us!
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