Behind a Nation: Akbay, Bayan, Anak. Guest post by Jay Malvar 2003 was the last time I visited the Philippines. I still speak Tagalog, kumupas na (faded), but still speaking. A lot of people often say it was because we spoke it at home. But I can tell you right now, we spoke a lot of English. My siblings and I know that it is felt when we speak Tagalog: our link to home. When my family speaks to each...
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Paul Kekai Manansala shares in his blog and book, Quest for the Dragon and Bird Clan that sacred clay jars, made to hold tea, had several markings on them that distinguished them as hailing from the northern island of Luzon in the Philippines. In Japan, the clay pots from the Philippines were called Rusun-yaki and highly valued. One of the markings was the baybayin of LA. Manansala writes that the LA baybayin...
Read More“LOS BAÑOS—Students of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) have gathered the number of signatures required for the state campus to adopt the Sablay as official attire on graduation day. The use of UP Sablay as graduation attire was “good to go,” said Tres Panganiban, of the UPLB Student Council. The council, said Panganiban, has submitted last month more than 5,800 signatures of students supporting the use of...
Read More“Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil is pushing for the protection and conservation of “Baybayin” and its adoption as the National Script of the Philippines. “If we are doing our best to preserve our endangered species, how much more should we do all means to preserve our endangered national treasure, the baybayan script?” As proposed, Baybayin, also known as Alibata shall be declared as the national script and inscribed in various...
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It is not uncommon for letters, pictographs and symbols to have deep hidden meanings—even magical power, for cultures around the world have rich histories and stories connected to symbols, letters and written words. Other countries and cultures too have symbols and writing systems that were multi-dimensional, that is, their writing systems in application could not only be read as words and every day messages or chronicles, but...
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