 | This article needs to be updated.(August 2019) |
 A rally of members of Tanggol Wika and other groups calling for the junking of the Philippine government's K to 12 program, held in front of the Philippine Supreme Court (2016). | |
| Formation | 2014 |
|---|---|
Official language | Filipino |
Tanggol Wika or Alyansa ng Mga Tagapagtanggol ng Wikang Filipino (Alliance of Defenders of the Filipino Language) is a Philippine-based organization founded in 2014 in an assembly of more than 300 professors, students, writers and cultural activists at the De La Salle University-Manila, as a response to the abolition of formerly mandatory Filipino language subjects in Philippine colleges and universities because of Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order No. 20, Series of 2013, [1] which implements a new General Education Curriculum (GEC) as part and parcel of the Philippine government's adoption of the Kindergarten to 12 years of basic education or K to 12 program.
Filipino is the national language of the Philippines. Filipino is also designated, along with English, as an official language of the country. It is a standardized variety of the Tagalog language, an Austronesian regional language that is widely spoken in the Philippines. As of 2007, Tagalog is the first language of 28 million people, or about one-third of the Philippine population, while 45 million speak Tagalog as their second language. Tagalog is among the 185 languages of the Philippines identified in the Ethnologue. Officially, Filipino is defined by the Commission on the Filipino Language as "the native dialect, spoken and written, in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region, and in other urban centers of the archipelago."
De La Salle University, also known as and abbreviated DLSU, is a private, Catholic research university run by De La Salle Brothers located in Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines. It was established in 1911 as the De La Salle College in Nozaleda Street, Paco, Manila with Br. Blimond Pierre serving as first director. The educational institution moved to its present location on September 21 to facilitate the increase in enrollment. The college was granted university status in February 1975 and is the oldest constituent of De La Salle Philippines (DLSP), a network of 16 Lasallian institutions established in 2006 to replace the De La Salle University System.
The Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines, abbreviated as CHED, is a government agency attached to the Office of the President of the Philippines for administrative purposes. It covers both public and private higher education institutions as well as degree-granting programs in all post-secondary educational institutions in the country.
In its founding manifesto, Tanggol Wika listed the following objectives as its main advocacies: 1) Retain the teaching of Filipino language subjects in the new Philippine General Education Curriculum (GEC) in college; 2) Revise Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order 20. series of 2013; and 3) Use Filipino language as a medium of instruction in different subjects; and 4) Push for nationalistic education in the Philippines. [2]
In 2015, Tanggol Wika filed [3] a Philippine Supreme Court petition (the first-ever petition written in Filipino, [4] which is the Philippines' national language) - backed by partylist groups and various personalities [5] - to stop the implementation of CHED Memorandum Order No. 20, Series of 2013, remarking that it disregards the pro-national language spirit of the framers of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the same Constitution’s emphasis on nationalism and cultural awareness as core values of Philippine education, and the same Constitution’s pro-labor provisions that give workers – including teachers and workers in the education sector – the right to participate in policy-making activities. [6]
The Supreme Court of the Philippines or referred to as simply by its colloquial term Korte Suprema, is the highest court in the Philippines. The Court was established by the second Philippine Commission in June 11, 1901 through the enactment of Act No. 136, an Act which had abolished the Real Audiencia de Manila.
Subsequently, Tanggol Wika scored an initial victory in its legal battle against CHED Memorandum Order No. 20, Series of 2013 when the Philippine Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against the said government policy which remains valid until further court orders. [7] [8]
The group pushes for its advocacies through forums, [9] [10] [11] rallies at the CHED office, [12] [13] [14] at the Supreme Court, [15] [16] in Mendiola near Malacañan Palace and other venues, [17] and social media campaigns. Its Facebook page has garnered more than 12,000 likes as of April 2016. [18]
Mendiola Street is a short thoroughfare in San Miguel, Manila, Philippines. The street is named after Enrique Mendiola, an educator, textbook author and member of the first Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines. As a street close to Malacañang Palace, the President of the Philippines' official residence, it has been the site of numerous and sometimes bloody demonstrations.
Malacañan Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Philippines. It is located in San Miguel, Manila and is commonly associated with Mendiola Street. The term "Malacañang" is often used as a metonym for the president and his advisers. The sprawling Malacañang Palace complex includes numerous mansions and office buildings designed and built largely in Bahay na bato and neoclassical style.
The group called upon politicians to include their advocacy among the issues for the 2016 local and national elections in the Philippines. [19] It actively promotes the Filipino language through social media, and regularly post commentaries on current issues. Recently, it called upon a famous Filipino broadcaster to apologize for "belittling" the Philippine national language when the latter called the language as "bullshitty" as a reaction to a presidential debate conducted in the Filipino language. [20] [21] Many of its convenors also signed a statement (written in Filipino) condemning Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. (a vice-presidential candidate in the 2016 elections) for the latter's portrayal of his father Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.'s dictatorship as an alleged "golden age" of the Philippines. [22] [23] [24] [25] It has also endorsed ACT Teachers Partylist (among the founding organizations of Tanggol Wika) and the senatorial bid of Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares - a co-signatory in a subsequent Supreme Court petition that challenges the constitutionality of the whole K to 12 system in the Philippines, in the 2016 elections. [26]
Philippine elections are of several types. The president, vice-president, and the senators are elected for a six-year term, while the members of the House of Representatives, governors, vice-governors, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, mayors, vice-mayors, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod/members of the Sangguniang Bayan, barangay officials, and the members of the Sangguniang Kabataan are elected to serve for a three-year term.
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. is a Filipino politician who most recently served as a senator in the 16th Congress. He is the second child and only son of former President and dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos and of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. was a Filipino politician and kleptocrat who was the tenth President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. A leading member of the right-wing New Society Movement, he ruled as a dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981. His regime was infamous for its corruption, extravagance, and brutality.
