A Cebuano asked me if he is less of a Filipino since he refuses to speak Filipino and prefers English. I replied that it depends. I asked him the reason. And he said that Filipino is simply Tagalog, and was imposed by Imperial Manila on them. And I asked him if he doesnt think that English is an Imperial language too, since it was brought to us by our American colonizers. He said he doesnt know. I further told him that in fact, if indeed it were true that Filipino is just an Imperial language from Manila, at least it did not come in the context of a colonization that have wreaked untold violence on them, as there was no Balangiga Massacre, for example. I reminded him that no Cebuano was water tortured in the name of Tagalog imperialism. So, back to the question of whether the Cebuano, who refuses to speak Tagalog because he considers it as an Imperialist language, is less of a Filipino. My reply is, I am not going to judge him if he is less Filipino, as I know that even if I speak Filipino, Tagalog and English, it does not make me less of a Bicolano. But I think this person has a flawed sense of history. He hates Tagalog Imperialism but does not understand American Imperialism.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 22:46:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015