98. HISTORY MONTH & BUWAN NG WIKA

HISTORY MONTH & BUWAN NG WIKA

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

01 August 2019

Almost all Filipinos are aware that August is “Buwan ng Wika”; however, only a handful knows that August is also “History Month”. I have always loved history from the stories in the barangays to world history. Probably because my parents instilled it to me when I was growing up since both are social reformers and I was exposed to real life scenarios on events that molded the nation. I wrote the historical development of our beloved town Cabatuan, Isabela at the age of 16 and went on to scribble the history of the province of Isabela in 2001 and of other local government units (LGU) which includes: Cauayan City, Angadanan, Luna, Ramon, San Pablo and Tumauini all in the province of Isabela. For release are the LGUs of the City of Ilagan, Santiago City, Benito Soliven, Cordon and San Mariano also in the same province. Aside from the LGUs, I released over four dozen historical articles and a number of pamphlets and books concentrating on local histories, biographies of unsung heroes, Rizal related articles and origin of names of places in the Philippines. I maintain a blog (anghistorya.blogspot) and regularly posts historical tidbits in my Facebook account under the album hISTORYA. These writings earned me the “Outstanding Researcher of Isabela” award on March 13, 2013 bestowed by the Provincial Government of Isabela during the administration of Governor Faustino G. Dy III and Vice Governor Rodolfo T. Albano III, now the incumbent governor. I regularly receive invitations to speak in various occasions in the different LGUs and I make it a point to incorporate historical information in my speeches. One of my favorite engagements was the celebration of the Centennial of the Capture and Heroism of General Emilio Aguinaldo (1901-2001) in Palanan, Isabela where I was the main lecturer. It was held at the Isabela Museum & Library in the capital town of Ilagan on March 21, 2001.

The celebration of History Month is by virtue of Proclamation No. 339 which was signed on February 16, 2012 by President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III. The Proclamation repealed Proclamation No. 1304 s. 1974, which declared September 15 to 21 of every year as History Week, moved the celebration to August and extended the observance of History to a whole month. History Month concludes on National Heroes Day, observed on the last Monday of August, by virtue of Republic Act No. 9492 signed on July 24, 2007. The celebration of National Heroes Day to mark the anniversary of the Cry of Pugad Lawin, the beginning of the Philippine Revolution by the Katipunan and its Supremo Andrés Bonifacio in 1896, was first enacted into law through Act. No. 3827 signed on October 28, 1931, declaring the last Sunday of August as an official national holiday. In 2007, it became the last Monday, in line with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s holiday economics program as stipulated in Republic Act No. 9492 which moved holidays to the nearest Monday or Friday of the week.

The observance of History Month is done in August because major events in the nation’s history occurred in August.  Some significant events are: the proclamation by Isabelo delos Reyes of the establishment of Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Aglipayan Church) on August 3, 1902, with Father Gregorio Aglipay as Supreme Bishop; the signing into law of Republic Act No. 4166 on August 4, 1964 by President Diosdado Macapagal, that recognized the declaration of independence on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite, and designated “June 12” as the Independence Day of the Philippines; Manila becomes a chartered city on August 7, 1901; establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the Philippines as one of five original members; and the martyrdom of Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. on August 21 (declared as special non-working holiday), 1983 which led to the People Power Revolution of 1986 that toppled the Marcos dictatorship. The Father of National Language, President Manuel L. Quezon, was also born in this month, on August 19, 1878.

  

August is Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa, as declared by Proclamation No. 1041, s. 1997 signed on July 15, 1997 by former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos.  The Proclamation extended the observance of Linggo ng Wika from August 13 to 19, to a whole month. Browsing the net gives us a background how the “Filipino” became our national language. The Philippines is a multilingual state with at least 175 living languages originating and spoken by various ethno-linguistic groups. There was no one single common language across every cultural group in the Philippine archipelago when the Spaniards arrived in the 16^th century. Spanish served in an official capacity as language of the government during the Spanish colonial period. During the American colonial period, English became an additional official language of the Philippines alongside Spanish.

On November 13, 1936, the first National Assembly of the Philippine Commonwealth approved Commonwealth Act No. 184 creating the Institute of National Language which later became the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa and tasking it with making a study and survey of each existing native language to be used as the base for a standardized national language. The Institute adopted a resolution dated November 9, 1937 recommending Tagalog to be basis of the national language. On December 30, President Manuel L. Quezon issued Executive Order No. 134, s. 1937, approving the adoption of Tagalog as the language of the Philippines, and declared and proclaimed the national language so based on the Tagalog dialect as the national language of the country. On June 7, 1940, the National Assembly passed Commonwealth Act No. 570 declaring that the Filipino national language would be considered an official language effective July 4, 1946 coinciding with the country's expected date of independence from the United States.

This year’s Buwan ng Wika celebrations are anchored on the theme “Wikang Katutubo: Tungo sa Isang Bansang Filipino.” Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) head, National Artist Virgilio S. Almario, said that Buwan ng Wika 2019 aims to “give tribute to the indigenous languages and emphasize their importance to nationhood.” Almario said that “these languages have life on their own and they embody the traditions of so many generations of Filipinos from the past to present. Shining the light on these local languages is important in keeping them alive, in use, and to create inclusive and real wikang pambansa (national language).”

Our generation today needs to look back from time to time on the pages of our history to make sure that the dark side of our history will never be repeated. On the other hand, the country’s national language, Filipino, should be considered a priority in schools since this is the best medium for us to be unified since we are an archipelagic nation with almost 200 different languages spoken by over 100 million inhabitants. Strengthening historical consciousness and supporting the use of the Filipino national language in all corners of this great nation will produce a more dynamic and nationalistic generation ready to face the challenges of the next millennium.