On Wednesday, Nov. 23, language teachers and experts from all over
the region will assemble in the Instituto Cervantes de Manila for the
Second Conference
of Spanish as a Foreign Language in Asia and the Pacific which will be
inaugurated by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. Many will remember the common
heritage and the historical bonds between our two countries but wonder
why reviving the Spanish language is an issue of interest in the Philippines as we enter the second decade of the 21st century.
Way back in 1937, President Manuel L. Quezon, referring to Spanish,
said that “the Latin-American people believe and feel that we Filipinos
form part of that vast family, the children of Spain. Thus, although
Spain ceased to govern those countries many years ago and although
another nation is sovereign in the Philippines, those Latin-American
peoples feel themselves as brothers to the people of the Philippines. It
is the Spanish language that still binds us to those peoples eternally
if we have the wisdom and patriotism of preserving it.”
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1 comment:
12 December 1888 Malolos, Bulacan submitted a petition to Gov-Gen. Valeriano Weyler requesting permission to set up a night school that would teach them the Spanish language. Propagandists Rizal and Del Pilar lauded the lasses 'exceptionally courageous' in a letter to the women. The height of Spanish speaking in the Philippines started when it became compulsory in all public school systems in 1865 until the Fall of Manila (esp. Intramuros)in WW2 and finally in 1987. Spain no longer owns the language. Though foreign it seems but I believe Spanish is also a Filipino language and learning it makes me even more Filipino. We got heaps of Filipino literature in Spanish written by real Filipinos in the past and the Premio Zóbel awarded the exceptional. Unfortunately, the last recipient of the award was given in 2008. "No quiero que el español muera en Filipinas. (I don’t want Spanish to die in the Philippines.)"—Enrique Zóbel, founder Premio Zóbel
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