Beautiful Cebu

Cebu is not the same colonial province time has forgotten decades ago. It is not a periphery to the center but rather, a destination with its own unique charm. Discover for yourself. See new destinations in the Cebu mainland. Read on...

Sunday, August 28, 2011

INSIGHT | Truly national

| BY J.D. VELEZ

There is no such thing as Filipino national culture.The Filipino nation is a political creation. Same with so-called Filipino national language, constitutionally designated as lingua franca of the Philippines, as if you can legislate a language into existence.

The Filipino language is based mainly on Tagalog. Same with everything else Filipino or national. They're all thinly-veiled Tagalog. And that holds true also for the Philippine national history. It's more of history of the Tagalog people. We barely read about Leon Kilat, Apolinar Velez or Arcadio Maxilom in Philippine history books.

While the Philippine political and legal establishment is monolithic, its cultural make-up is far from it. We often hear of cultural minorities. But who are the cultural majorities? They are the Tagalogs, Cebuanos, Ilonggos, Ilocanos, Warays, Kapampangans, Pangasinenses and Bicolanos. Then why should the Filipino or the national heavily biased for the Tagalogs? A truly national culture and history is one that reflects our diversity and identity as peoples of the Philippines.
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