BY DR. JOSE PALU-AY DACUDAO
THE MOTHER Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) is officially dead.
Republic Act No. 12027, which has recently lapsed into law, has discontinued the use of the Mother Tongue as medium of instruction from kindergarten to the first three years of elementary education. It is optional and only be allowed if the Commission on the Filipino Language (KWF) standards are met.
This is ironic because the idea of MTB-MLE has been proven to be correct and effective by a score of studies all over the world. Instead, it is the implementation of such a program that has gone wrong.
In most studies of successful MTB-MLE like programs abroad, the mother tongue program was implemented until high school. The mother tongue then served as a jumping point for students to learn other languages proficiently. Stopping at Grade 3, which means that students have to learn other languages back from zero at grades four and above, does not produce good results, as these studies have showed.
Moreover, this is the only and last institutionalized widespread government program that teaches non-Tagalogs their native tongues. It is clearly a setback for the ongoing efforts to revitalize the use of non-Tagalog native languages and protect the cultural diversity of the Philippines.
In light of this, there should be laws, executive orders, and even a Constitutional Amendment that would clearly mandate a Multiple Official Languages model.
Note the following language provisions in Philippine Constitutions.
1935 CONSTITUTION
ART. XIV, SEC.3. The Congress shall take steps toward the development and adoption of a common national language based on one the existing native languages. Until otherwise provided by law, English and Spanish shall continue as official languages.
1973 CONSTITUTION
ART. XV, SEC.3. (3) Until otherwise provided by law, English and Pilipino shall be the official languages.
1987 CONSTITUTION
ART. XIV, SEC.6. The national language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.
Subject to provisions of law and as the Congress may deem appropriate, the Government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system
SEC.7. For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English. The regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the region and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein.
Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.
I underlined the passages pertinent to our cause.
Comment: Since the 1987 Constitution supersedes the previous ones, we can just place in the following two passages from 1987. These two are relevant to our endeavor and cause. (To be continued)/PN
