BUWAN NG WIKA. Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino director-general Marites Barrios-Taran delivers a speech during the opening of the month-long celebration of Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa 2023 at the Quezon Memorial Shrine in Quezon City on Tuesday (Aug. 1, 2023). She underscored the significance of communicating government initiatives and programs in the languages every Filipino can understand. (Photo courtesy of KWF)
MANILA – The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) on Monday vowed to deliver the government's messages to every Filipino in the languages they can understand and speak, even in the remotest parts of the country.
In her speech during the opening of the month-long observance of Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa 2023 at Quezon Memorial Shrine in Quezon City, KWF director-general Marites Barrios-Taran underscored the importance of properly communicating government initiatives and programs to let everyone know that they have a working government.
“Sa panig ng KWF, kami po ay nakikipag-ugnayan sa halos lahat ng antas at sangay ng pamahalaan upang maipaabot sa pinakadulo at pinakaliblib na lugar sa Pilipinas ang mensahe ng gobyerno, sa wika na kanilang naririnig, nauunawaan at sinasalita (On the part of the KWF, we are collaborating with almost all levels and branches of the government to convey the government's messages to the farthest and most remote areas of the Philippines, in the language they hear, understand and speak)," she said.
"Mahalaga po ang pakikipag-ugnayang ito sapagkat kailangang madama ng mga tao na ang gobyerno nila ay nagtatrabaho para sa kanila, na iniisip ang kanilang kapakanan, na sila ay binibigyan ng importansya, ng pagpapahalaga at ng pagkalinga (This communication is important because people need to feel that their government is working for them, considering their welfare, giving them importance, value and care),” she added.
Among the projects being implemented by the KWF for language inclusivity include the translation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) into selected native languages; implementation of programs for the Filipino Sign Language (FSL); program for the Master Apprentice Language Learning Program (MALLP), a program or an initiative to revitalize indigenous languages; and research and publication of Philippine folk literature.
Meanwhile, Quezon City 5th District Rep. Patrick Michael Vargas agreed that government communications, particularly those in written form, should be easily understood by end-users.
Vargas earlier filed House Bill 5418, which seeks to enhance citizens' access to government information and services.
He said this can be done by simply translating all official documents into the local dialect so that every Filipino can take part in the democratic processes of the government.
This year’s Buwan ng Wika is themed “Filipino at Mga Katutubong Wika: Wika ng Kapayapaan, Seguridad, at Inklusibo Ng Pagpapatupad ng Katarungang Panlipunan (Filipino and Indigenous Languages: Languages of Peace, Security and Inclusive Enforcement of Social Justice).
In 1997, then President Fidel V. Ramos signed Proclamation No. 1041 changing the observance duration of the Linggo ng Wika to cover the whole of August. (PNA)
