No say Kastila et salita na lapag a bansa (2)

The policy of Castilianization during the Franco regime, which led to severe
suppression of Catalan, Gallego, Basco, gave rise to clamors for equality of
these languages with Castellano as official languages in their respective
regions. The generalissimo's policy was integration, unification, homogenization
through state education, the imposition of Spanish and repression. It would be
interesting to compare this with the policy of bilingualism that was adopted
during the Marcos years. In 1978, with the return of democracy, a new
constitution was promulgated that recognizes the rights of other Spanish
languages. In other words, this is not "pure speculation." Spanish was imposed
to the detriment of other languages.

The Malolos Constitution did "impose" Spanish as the national language "in the
meantime." It would be straining between the lines to say that Philippine
languages were made "co-equal." This is pure and simple "speculation." It only
says "optional" and since we do not know how they will be regulated by law, we
don't really know if they were contemplated to be "official languages."

At least the Americans taught English in contrast with Spain's refusal to teach
Castilian to the natives although we owe it a little to them that our languages
were kept alive. Spain did not want to assimilate the archipelago and integrate
it to the Spanish nation. Spain in 1898, instead of surrendering to the
revolutionary forces because it considered an abasement to deal with the indios,
the height of imperial hubris, negotiated with the Americans and sold our
country for $ 20 million dollars.

Although we owe to a very little extent the unity of the Philippine nation to
Spain, a unity that served the empire, which was preceded by the racial and
geographic unity of the archipelago and the peoples before Magallanes, it was
Rizal who conceive the idea of a Filipino nation separate and distinct from
Spain and it was the Revolution of 1898 that gave birth to that nation.

"Another chain around our neck." DILA, 3 October 2009.