Re: Yabang Pinoy
- From: "John B" <juancito2uREMOVE@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:20:47 -0700
"Joekerr" <joekerr3@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9763f5ec-eea5-4a65-a11f-96d93977d88f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
DOUBLE TAKE
By Eric F. Mallonga
Yabang Pinoy
LANGUAGE is the primordial pillar of national identity, which links
one person to the rest of his people. Every word in the vocabulary has
an etymology that betrays its roots and corollary history. With the
evolution or devolution of language, the growth of our nation, or lack
thereof, is easily traceable.
In full recognition of the primary role of national language to
Filipino heritage, the nation celebrates it with a ?Buwan ng Wikang
Pambansa [National Language Month]? or with ?Linggo ng Wika [Language
Week].? It is that month or week of the year when all students,
including government employees, are encouraged to use the native
tongue; when teachers, students, and government employees are mandated
to wear native attire and costumes; when patriotic posters plaster
school bulletin boards and street billboards; and when students are
not penalized by their teachers for speaking in Filipino. Most of us
see it as a noble cause that furthers the growth and promotion of
national pride.
But Yabang Pinoy, a Filipino empowerment group, believes that all
these celebrations might just have diametrically opposed consequential
results to the ennoblement of our people. As Yabang Pinoy member Ali
Sanggalang puts it, ?Paano mo mamahalin ang isang bagay na isang buwan
mo lang kinikilala? [How do you love something that you recognize for
just a month?]? It is a good point. After numerous years of poring
over Filipino books; after reading dozens of Pagbasa books; listening
to countless lectures, we barely even know the difference between a
?pantig? and a ?patinig.? What?s worse, a lot of teachers nowadays
discourage their students from speaking Tagalog. Apparently, because
the only jobs available in the domestic market after college
graduation are in the call center industry, which requires exclusivity
in speaking English with either a bizarre British or high-pitched
American accent. Or because most graduating students end up in
overseas employment anyway. Yet, in a confused approach to ingrain
national pride despite being responsible for the prevailing cultural
attitudes of leaving this country to its miserable state, the
incumbent government comes up with such gimmickry as Buwan or Linggo
ng Wika. Yabang Pinoy wants this ?celebration? to stop. They want to
make Filipinos realize that learning the language is not something
done for only a month or week. It is a lifetime commitment. Language
is, after all, an essential part of our national existence, an
ennoblement of our race, and should embrace our very being as a
people.
Yabang Pinoy is a group founded by young, nationalistic students and
yuppies, who realize that the gravest threat faced by the Philippines
today is Filipinos not believing in their own nationality and
identity. The group is focused on harnessing and unifying the latent
pride that each Filipino has; then taking that pride and raising it to
a higher level; subsequently, converting it into concrete action. Once
all Filipinos start acting to protect, preserve and uplift the nation,
there will be more things to be proud of and the movement will grow
stronger as the cycle continues. Yabang Pinoy believes that
strengthening love for language is a most vital aspect in cementing
Filipino pride. In hammering this home, Yabang Pinoy recruited up-and-
coming director Paul Soriano, teamed up with advertising agency Ace
Saatchi & Saatchi, to create ?The Mark Peckson Project??their most
ambitious project to date.
The campaign is four-part reality webisode series that revolves around
a 29-year-old Filipino, who lives here and studies here. He loves it
here. Yet, strangely enough, he has never learned the language.
Through him, Yabang Pinoy tested, and is continuing to test, if one
month is indeed enough to learn and love the Filipino language. As
volunteers from Yabang Pinoy and Ace Saatchi officemates give an eager
Mark Peckson a crash course, cameras will follow Mark?s progress. So
far, Mark has gone back to Grade School and has taken to naming things
by covering his whole office with post-its. Episodes are amusing and
gaining quite a following among the young crowd. Mark has also been
reading textbooks, answering quizzes and posting Tagalog blog entries
in addition to filming webisodes. He has even been posting his
Facebook status in Tagalog. According to Yabang Pinoy, these
activities are essential in Mark?s rigorous training regimen.
But if this is such a serious matter, why put humor in the campaign?
Advocate Maricris Sarino says being entertaining actually helps a lot.
?Preaching doesn?t work anymore. Sermons merely egress through the
other ear and the message left unheard,? states Maricris. The viewers
will surely get involved because they will see themselves in Mark. In
many ways, Mark personifies the sorry state of countless Filipino kids
who are brainwashed with the notion that speaking Tagalog will get
them nowhere. This problem is what fuels Yabang Pinoy to debunk
confining the learning of Filipino to just a month or week and make
the public embrace the Filipino language every minute, every day,
every year. You can catch the Mark Peckson Project this August on
www.pecksonpinoy.ph.
ericfmallonga@xxxxxxxxx
How many actual different languages are there in the Phils....something like
800?
john
.
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