ABS-CBN 32 Dagupan tan GMA Dagupan, managpatey na salitan Pangasinan odino manangitanduro na impiryalismon Tagalog!

Iray Pangasinan makapoy so pililikna da ed salita ya pamabirbir ed inkasika da. Say Pangasinan labat so aliwan regional channel lapud say sasalitaen da ed news broadcast da et aliwan Pangasinan balet Tagalog.

Onpapatey la lanti so Pangasinan lapu lantid inkamatalunggaring na Tagalog, Inglis tan Iloko, ag ni nabantayan ed TV.

Abayag ko lan gabay ya ibelyaw ya ed sayan blog ta kada ngarem so narerengel ko et Tagalog diad tv ya ag nagawa ed Laoag ta Iloko diman, diad San Fernando ta Kapampangan ira, Bikol diad Bikol, Ilonggo diad Iloilo tan arum ni ra. Makapasiodot tan makapageget no akin onia so nagagawa ed Pangasinan.

Say ABS-CBN Dagupan labat so niduma ed intiron regional channels na sayan istasiyon ta say riportahi da et Tagalog.

Say padisir ko saray manbebenben ed sayan istasiyon no aliwan Pangasinan et Ilocano odino Tagalog.

No man-interbyu ni rad saray totoo ed ibabalita da et Tagalog.

Makapabaing ni so GMA ta so makinggawa et taga-Pangasinan - iray Jimenez. Naitdan ni na ASNA award na provincial government na Pangasinan. Ompano sikara et ag da amtay man-Pangasinan odino Ilocano ira.

Panon ton nabangatan iray ilalak odino iray Ilocano ya anggad natan ag da amta so man-Pangasinan?


Mureng ira ya ag da amta ya MLE la so pamakaaran na DepEd.

Diad apalabas ya GMA Balitang Amianan ya si Jorge Guerrero so manbebenben, wala ni ray ugugaw ya Pangasinense ya konwarin manriport et nabirbir so inkaPangasinan da ed panagsalita da. Akin ag la salitan Pangasinan so inusar da imbis ya Tagalog? Lapud say kanonotan na management et mas maung kan Pilipino no say amtam ya salita et Tagalog.

Ed arum ya salita, say mass media so numiro uno ya managpatey na salitan Pangasinan.

Siopa iray kabusol na salitan Pangasinan?

1. Iray atateng ya Pangasinan ya ibangat da ni iray anak da ed Tagalog. Walay kabat kon taga-San Carlos ya manaaral ed UP ya ag to amtan balot so Pangasinan. Makabaing ya tua!

2. Iray Ilocano ya manbebenben ed sarayan istasiyon ya lapu lantid say kanonotan da et Ilocano ira tan dakel so arum ya totoon nambabangil dia ed Pangasinan sikaton itandoro da so Tagalog. Pekewet ya rason.
Pano iran nabangatan na Pangasinan ta wala lanti ra dia ed Pangasinan no ag da nadedengel so Pangasinan odino nababantayan?

3. Iray Pangasinan ya ibaing da so salita da ya anggano pariho iran Pangasinan et labay da nin man-Ilokano odino man-Tagalog.

4. Iray opisial na gobierno lautlad Pangasinan ya anggapon balot so pakabirbiran ya Pangasinan so probinsia ed website singa say official website na Pangasinan provincial government.

5. Iray totoon say kanonotan da et say Pangasinan et Pangalatok ya ibabawag da ni ya ag da amta ya sayan salita et balaw daray Ilocano ed saray Pangasinan. Amay website na Philippine Information Agency abayag lan walad webpage banner da so Pangalatok.

6. Say gobiernon Pilipino nen diktador tan corrupt ya Ilocano ya si Ferdinand Marcos ya angiletneg tan nanpangaran na Region 1 bilang Ilocos Region ya pinatey to ya so pamabirbir ya Pangasinan. Iray manguusar ed sarayan ngaran ya Ilocos Region odino Ilocandia. Kaokolan ya salatan yan ngaran.

7. Iray mamaistra tan mamaistro ya itandoro da ni so Tagalog nen say salitan Pangasinan.

Diad Urdaneta, no onlaak ed baley mansasalitaak na Pangasinan ed saray tricycyle driver pian onpatey so kanonotan ya soy Urdaneta et Ilocano. Singa "dia la" odino "diman ay" etc.

No makapoy so pakabirbiran daray Pangasinan ya singa isoko da la so salita da ed Tagalog odino Iloco, antoy pansumpalen da ey? Onkapoy so panangaro dad nanlapuan da. Ontan met onmelag so pililikna da ed baley da.

Nen inaksubi daray Pangasinan nen 1912 so inkaPangasinan da tan intandoro da so salitan Pangasinan, abilay so salita, inmaliguas so probinsia tan nipalagey so sangkarakepan ya kapitoliyo ed Lingayen. Irayan totoo et sikara di Pedro Ma. Sison na Urdaneta ya nanmaliw ya Sinador na sigundo distrito, Daniel Maramba ya taga-Sta. Barbara sikatoy gobernador ya nanpalagey na kapitoliyo, Angel Ungson, Manuel Moran ya taga-Binalonan ya nanmaliw ya chief justice na Supreme Court, Pablo Mejia tan arum ni ran gagalangen ya Pangasinense. 

Akin kaokolan so regional channel ed salitan Pangasinan?

Atayak so poli na Pangasinan ed probinsia na Pangasinan ya wala ray totoon Pangasinan ed ibabaga ran Ilocano singa diad Urdaneta ya kulaan ko, Tarlac, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Benguet, La Union, Zambales, Metro Manila tan arum ni ran probinsia.

Itdan na subtitle pian natalosan daray arum ya totoo no say paga da et ag natalosan daray Ilocano, etc.

Akin say nonoten et iray arum ni? Nanayam ira dia ed Pangasinan sikara ni so kaokolan ya itday konsiderasiyon? Diad sayan nagagawa iray Pangasinan et nanmaliw ya second-class citizen ed dili dan probinsiya.

No walay manaayam ya Pangasinan kasi ed Laoag odino Vigan salitaen da kasi so Pangasinan odino Tagalog ed saray news broadcast da ed TV pian ag kababaing ed saray Pangasinan? Andi.

Sikaton bangon ka la Pangasinan! Odino labay mon pateyen da ka pian manariy arum ya salita?

Language Recognition

If non-Tagalogs want their language to be recognized locally and internationally, they must start institutionalizing departments of linguistics in universities of their respective regions and localities. If they want to put an end to the masquerade that Tagalog is the language of Filipinos when in fact there are other languages, marginalized by the status quo, now is the auspicious time to do so.

Language is wealth. Universities abroad are capitalizing on our languages and they are earning dollars from them. They are robbing us of our heritage and they are the ones who get recognition. Filipino intellectuals and cultural artists must secure to themselves the cultures of their ancestors by studying, propagating and disseminating them.

In terms of economic productivity as a language, English had become the richest on the basis of its dissemination. How many millions of dollars had been paid since the creation of TOEFL, IELTS, TSE, TWE etc. Filipinos should by now look at English as cultural capital. Why not establish a modified form of those tests recognized by the English community around the world administered by Filipinos?

In the same way, Pangasinan, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Bisaya and others could also join the league only if the stakeholders recognize their own. When? Decades from now? Now is the time!

TPFL (Test of Pangasinan as a Foreign Language), anyone?

Pangasinan – a dying language?

By Erwin S. Fernandez

I beg to disagree with F. Sionil Jose, the National Artist for Literature who hails from Rosales, a town away from my birthplace, Urdaneta. Pangasinan, he foretells, like the rest of Philippine languages except Tagalog, Iloko and Cebuano, shall die in the near future because it is now on the verge of disuse and eventually extinction. He raises a valid point, however, that Pangasinan speakers must now address.

Unlike the three cited languages, Pangasinan don’t have Liwayway, Bisaya and Bannawag, popular vernacular magazines where one ordinarily finds short stories, essays, poems and other occasional pieces. Thus, there is no proper venue for would-be writers and authors. Or if there had been one, will there be a critical audience or more importantly, will there be writers for readers?

At present, less than one and a half million people speak the language. So who says there is no market for writers? What is lacking is a grouping like the GUMIL (Gunglo dagiti Mannurat nga Ilocano) that will unite writers who, I’m confident, are more than willing to cooperate for the sake of preserving the language. I am pretty sure they are still around in the villages or in towns or cities with dormant energies waiting to be reawakened.

The names of Catalino Palisoc (1865-1932) and Pablo Mejia (1872-1934), only two among the renowned Zarzuela writers, come to mind when we speak of Pangasinan literature. We must not miss Maria Magsano, the educator-writer and suffragist who put up the Silew magazine. In the annals of Philippine vernacular literature, these illustrious names rank among the best in Tagalog, Iloco and Cebuano literatures.

Their generation had to struggle to survive with the imposition of a dominant colonial language – English – but they succeeded for tradition did not easily succumb to the new alien culture. The next generation after them, however, educated in the state university and universities in Manila felt secure with the language of the colonial master. No one can blame them because English became the language in the academe, in the bureaucracy and in print and broadcast media. Not surprisingly, this led to the neglect to a certain extent of our local language.

Quezon, in the 1930s, thought of a national language as basis for national unity. Tagalog was imposed in schools. All over the country, non-Tagalogs had to learn the national language, which during the time of Cory Aquino, it was decided to change its name to Pilipino and at last to Filipino.

Our language, prior to this, had to compete with Iloco. Ilocano migrants settled in the province and ever since, the popularity and usage of the Iloco had far outweighed Pangasinan. Yet, it is not unusual to find people who are bilingual. In my case, we speak Pangasinan at home but we can switch to speak in Iloco if it is warranted by the occasion. In the advent of the Filipino as the national language, Pangasinan has been delegated primarily to the home; hence, marginalized as education and mass media are encouraged to employ Filipino and English.

Thanks to Sionil Jose. He had unwittingly issued the warning. Unless the present generation acts concertedly to preserve it, Pangasinan shall always be in an unhappy position pushed into the periphery of oral and literary avenues.

For the meantime, I shall patiently wait for the inclusion of Pangasinan in the roster of vernacular genre in the Palanca awards.

[First published in Sunday Punch under "Kabaleyan's Thoughts" May 29, 2006]

Pangasinan and Filipino

Is Pangasinan a dialect? To Governor Espino and others, Pangasinan is a Malayo-Polynesian language under the Austronesian group of languages. The difference between “language” and “dialect” can be known in the dictionary.

August is the designated month for the annual celebration of the national language, Filipino. But, the preceding and this year are different because the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino under Dr. Ricardo Nolasco had decided to follow a different direction. No longer is the emphasis on Filipino exclusively wrapped in monolingual discourse. Last year’s theme was “Ang Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa ay Buwan ng mga Wika sa Pilipinas,” which placed the more than a hundred Philippine languages at par with Filipino. The Commission sponsored literary contests in Iloco, Bisaya including Pangasinan.

This year’s theme is even more radical: “Maraming wika, matatag na bansa.” Contrary to popular assertions, Nolasco debunks the idea that multilingualism is hindrance to unity and progress. In affirmation of our linguistic diversity, he encourages the use and promotion of other vernacular languages beside Filipino in education, teaching and other avenues for their development. The contests (poetry, short story and essay) had been expanded to include Bikol, Meranao, Maguindanao and Tausug.

Now is the auspicious time for Pangasinenses to elevate their language to the status that other languages enjoy or further. These languages have attained national acceptance in creative writing workshops and literary contests. Take the case of the Palanca Awards. Pangasinan is left out in their list unlike Iloco. We Pangasinenses must first destroy the myth that Pangasinan is an Iloco dialect. Pangasinan is a language on its own right with rich literature comparable with other languages.

Making Pangasinan alive in the halls of Urduja House is a good step but utilizing it more widely in government offices, business and education either through printed or broadcast media requires a concerted effort from the stakeholders - us. Can the Board Members at the capitol debate on pressing issues in Pangasinan? Is it possible that minutes of conferences and meetings, and resolutions be written in Pangasinan, not translated from English? Will it be used as medium of instruction in the primary school?

Answers to these foregoing questions also hinge on the need to evaluate our existing national language policy. Should we stick to the policy of bilingualism?

This however need not detain the Espino leadership from taking concrete and positive action in the preservation and development of Pangasinan. Kapampangans have their Center for Kapampangan Studies under the auspices of the Holy Angel University. I have visited their magnificent museum showcasing their rich history and culture. They also publish a magazine, Singsing and a peer-reviewed journal. In UP Visayas, in Miag-ao, there is the Center for West Visayan Studies while in UP Baguio, they had the Cordillera Studies Center. Why not establish Sentro ya Panaralay Pangasinan (not Center for Pangasinan Studies)? The Pangasinan State University (PSU) should take the first opportunity of housing the facility where scholars and literati can be accommodated.

Indeed, Pangasinan and Filipino are two beautiful languages as good as any language in the world. Say Pangasinan tan Filipino et paris na arom ya salita ed mundon kaukulan ya aroen tan itanduro.

[First published in People's Digest Newsweekly (Dagupan City)(August 14-20, 2007)]