76. VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO & THE ENDANGERED LANGUAGE

VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO & THE ENDANGERED LANGUAGE

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

12 October 2018

n ten days, I was able to attend two national conventions and two international gatherings: the ATOP 19^th National Convention, JCI 70^th National Convention, Dayaw 2018 Philippines International Indigenous People’s Festival and the just concluded Pandaigdigang Kumperensiya sa Nanganganib na Wika (International Conference on Language Endangerment) which is very timely since I am currently doing a research on Isabela’s endangered language.

I browsed the souvenir program-booklet of the three-day conference and it reads:  “serve as a venue for language scholars and experts in other disciplines to foreground the frail eco-linguistic diversity of the world today and the factors causing this gradual loss of humanity’s rich linguistic heritage. In a rare feat, the Philippines take the lead in this conference to empathize with the rest of the countries experiencing language endangerment. By comparing their tragedies and successes, experts from different parts of the world hopefully will emerge to resolve issues and problems of language endangerment toward a more promising linguistic situation for the human world. Further, this conference will be a preliminary step in the formulation of policies and agendas seeking to influence authorities where necessary to support the documentation of the endangered languages of the Philippines. It hopes to contextualize fieldwork practices, documentary corpus, meta-documentation, communications media technologies, applied ethics, and other activities significant in language documentation, and revitalization efforts.”

The keynote speaker was Dr. Michael Walsh of the University of Sidney with the theme: Sustaining Languages, Sustaining the World. The first plenary speaker was Dr. Gregory D.S. Anderson of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages with the topic: Survey and Current State of Language Endangerment. The panelists were: Salem Mezhoud of King's College, London; and Dr. Josephine Daguman, Rosario Viloria, Lerma A. Abella & Rodelyn A. Aguilar all of the Translators Association of the Philippines.

The second plenary speaker was Dr. Larry Kimura of the University of Hawaii-Hilo with the topic: Language Documentation and Description: Building Resources for Endangered Languages. The panellists were: Dr. Marleen Haboud of the Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Ecuador; Dr. Mayuree Thawornpat of Mahidol University; and Dr. Brendon G. Fairbanks of University of Minnesota. While the third plenary speaker was Dr. Ganesh N. Devy of the People's Linguistic Survey of India with the topic: Language Endangerment, Capacity Building: Empowering Cultural Communities. The panelists were: Mr. Salem Mezhoud of King's College London; Dr. Purificacion G. Delima of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino; and Dr. Suwilai Premsrirat of Mahidol University.

National Artist Virgilio Almario was present in both international conferences I attended in Roxas City and at the National Museum in Manila. Almario is currently the chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF). The net specifically ncca.gov.ph narrates: Virgilio Senadrin Almario was born on March 9, 1944 in Camias, San Miguel, Bulacan. Growing up among peasants, he sought his education at Manila and completed his degree in A.B. Political Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Also known as Rio Alma, his life as a poet started when he took master’s course in education at the University of the East. He was an instructor at the Lagao Central Elementary School from 1969-1972. He only took his M.A. in Filipino in 1974 in the University of the Philippines. In 2003, he was appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Letters in the said university.

A prolific writer, he spearheaded the second successful modernist movement in Filipino poetry together with Rogelio Mangahas and Teo Antonio. His earliest pieces of literary criticism were collected in Ang Makata sa Panahon ng Makina (1972), now considered the first book of literary criticism in Filipino. During martial law, he set aside modernism and formalism and took interest in nationalism, politics and activist movement. As critic, his critical works deal with the issue of national language. In 34 years, he has published 12 books of poetry, which include the seminal Makinasyon and Peregrinasyon, and the landmark trilogy Doktrinang Anakpawis, Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo and Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa. In these works, his poetic voice soared from the lyrical to the satirical to the epic, from the dramatic to the incantatory, in his often severe examination of the self, and the society. He has also redefined how the Filipino poetry is viewed and paved the way for the discussion of the same in his 10 books of criticisms and anthologies, among which are Balagtasismo versus Modernismo, Walong Dekada ng Makabagong Tula Pilipino, Mutyang Dilim and Barlaan at Josaphat.

Many Filipino writers have come under Almario’s wing in the literary workshops he founded – the Galian sa Arte at Tula (GAT) and the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo (LIRA). He has also long been involved with children’s literature through the Aklat Adarna series, published by his Children’s Communication Center. He has been a constant presence as well in national writing workshops and galvanizes member writers as chairman emeritus of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL). He headed the NCCA as Executive Director from 1998 to 2001, ably steering the Commission towards its goals. But more than anything else, what Almario accomplished was that he put a face to the Filipino writer in the country, one strong face determinedly wielding a pen into untruths, hypocrisy, injustice, among others.

For his many achievements, Almario is recipient of numerous awards including several Palanca awards, Ten Outstanding Young Men (1983), Southeast Asia Write Award of Bangkok (1989), Dangal ng Lipi Award of Bulacan (1993; 2008), Gawad Patnubay ng Sining of Manila (1992), Gantimpalang Quezon of Quezon City (1993), and Gawad Diwa ng Lahi ng Lungsod Maynila (2010). On June 25, 2013, Almario was proclaimed National Artist for literature.

Almario inspires striving writers like me. The international conference fully aroused my enthusiasm to research deeper Isabela’s languages particularly the Irraya which is fast disappearing. With the NCCA and KWF as partners, I believe we could all work hand in hand to preserve and uplift the dying languages of our forefathers.  

Alivia

Andaya

Arreola

Asuncion

Britanico

Crisologo

Dy

Garcia

Garcia

Jarvinia

Labuguen

Manibog

Maramba

Miano

Uaje

Urita

Velasco