WHEN a language dies, a community loses its stories, rituals, humor, and identity.
Why this story matters: The new Matatag Curriculum makes mother tongue optional in early grades, reversing gains from Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education and reviving the “English-first” classroom norm.
By the numbers: The Philippines is home to many local languages, but data show that each year, a number of indigenous languages become endangered and extinct.
- 175 local Philippine languages
- 59 are endangered
Between the lines: Language loss accelerates when families stop passing it down. Migration, prestige of English/Filipino, and school policies speed the decline.
- Experts argue that if Filipinos keep privileging English, future generations may be globally employable—but culturally unmoored.
What the experts are saying: Education policies and global economic pressures have influenced the decline of mother tongue use in the classroom.
- Mark Anthony Angeles, Department of Creative Writing: “Languages reach the point of extinction because the members of the community stopped using them.”
- Prof. Michael Coroza, Ateneo de Manila University: “Akademya mismo ang pumapatay sa mga wikang katutubo…Kaya nawawala ang katutubong wika sa mga Pilipino, sa pangkalahatan ay dahil sa paggamit ng Ingles bilang medium of instruction, wika ng pagtuturo.”
- Assoc. Prof. Alvin Reyes, UST College of Education: Loss of intergenerational transmission—grandparents → parents → children—breaks the chain.
The policy arc: For decades, “English Only” policies treated local tongues as second-class. English is rewarded by the labor-export economy, seen as the ticket to white-collar jobs and working abroad.
- 2013: MTB-MLE under K–12 elevates mother tongue in K–3
- 2023: Matatag Curriculum rolls back, mother tongue becomes optional
- Legislation: House Bill 2165 proposes expanding the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino into Komisyon ng mga Wika sa Pilipinas
Reality check: Teaching English as the medium (not just a subject) often sidelines native languages. In other countries, English is a subject; here, local tongues are reduced to one.
- Materials and training for every mother tongue are uneven. Policymakers cite costs and logistics—gaps that communities and schools must bridge if mother tongue is to thrive.
Full story:
THE PHILIPPINES is home to 175 local languages, but data show that each year, a number of indigenous languages become endangered and extinct.
Experts point to several reasons behind this erosion. Migration, the dominance of lingua francas like Filipino and English, and the gradual abandonment of intergenerational transmission are among the most common.
“Languages reach the point of extinction because the members of the community stopped using them,” said Mark Anthony Angeles of the UST Department of Creative Writing.
Assoc. Prof. Alvin Ringgo Reyes of the UST College of Education said that once parents and grandparents fail to pass on their mother tongue to children, the cycle of loss accelerates.
“The most common cause at present is the lack of intergenerational transmission, or if the first generation (e.g., grandparents) did not transmit the language to the second generation (parents) and the latter did the same to the third generation (grandchildren) until the cycle continues,” Reyes said.
Data compiled by the London School of Economics in July revealed that 59 indigenous languages are on the brink of extinction because of factors such as migration and globalization.
In the country, education policies and global economic pressures have influenced the decline of mother tongue use in the classroom.
For decades, schools have favored English as the medium of instruction, sidelining local tongues through the implementation of an “English Only” policy.
“Akademya mismo [ang] pumapatay sa mga wikang katutubo. Hindi ko tinutukoy ang Pilipino lamang dito, kung hindi lahat ng mga wikang katutubo sa buong bansa,” Thomasian poet Michael Coroza, a faculty member at Ateneo de Manila University, told the Varsitarian.
While the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) program was introduced under the 2013 K-12 law, it was recently stripped down under the new “Matatag” Curriculum, which relegates the mother tongue to an optional subject in the early grades.
“Kaya nawawala ang katutubong wika sa mga Pilipino, sa pangkalahatan ay dahil sa paggamit ng Ingles bilang medium of instruction, wika ng pagtuturo,” Coroza said.
“Samantalang kung katutubong wika, gaya niyan, ipinatupad na ng mga nakaraang panahon na sa unang mga baitang ng pag-aaral ng estudyante sa Pilipinas ang gagamitin ay ‘yung mother tongue, ay ipinatanggal din naman,” he added.
Labor-export
The dominance of English is tied to the country’s labor-export economy.
For many, English proficiency is seen as the passport to white-collar jobs and overseas opportunities, believing it will give them an advantage, but experts said this mindset erodes cultural identity.
Coroza pointed out that policies privileging English are designed to make Filipinos more “marketable” abroad, emphasizing employability over cultural preservation.
“Ang gusto lang naman kasing gawin talaga ng mga nangangasiwa ng pamahalaang ito ay lumikha ng mga Pilipino na pwedeng ibenta sa mundo bilang mga manggagawa o OFW (overseas filipino worker),” he said.
“Mawawala ang mga wika na ‘yan dahil malulusaw dahil sa English. Dahil ang patakaran gawing buy-able, gawing kabenta-benta mga Pilipino bilang manggagawa sa ibang bansa,” he added.
Unlike in other countries where English is taught merely as a subject, in the Philippines, it is the local languages that have been reduced to that role, he said.
“Iyon ang dapat reformahin, baliktarin.. na hindi dapat subject lang ‘yong Pilipino o ang mother tongue. Hindi dapat subject lang ‘yon. Dapat ‘yon mismo ang gamitin na wika sa pakipag-usap, sa pagtalakay ng mahalagang bagay,” Coroza said.
Systemic
Language extinction is not only the result of neglect, said Coroza, it can also stem from systemic suppression.
“Ang lahat kasi nabuhay sa nakaraang limampung taon na ang paniwala ng marami, lalo na ang mga nasa akademya, ‘yong mga nakapag-aral na Pilipino, na Ingles ‘yong wika ng pag-asa, Ingles ‘yong wika ng kaligtasan. Ingles ang wika ng ekonomiya at lahat at kaya, Ingles na lamang.”
Experts distinguish between linguistic genocide in its extreme form: when languages are deliberately eradicated through colonization or violence; and linguicide in its more pervasive sense: the gradual destruction of languages through policies, economics, or social pressures that privilege a dominant tongue.
“Some other factors are linguistic genocide, where speakers of a language are exterminated, such as those experienced by some colonized nations like those in Latin America; acculturation, where migrants adapt to the language of their new habitat; and compliance with language policies that prescribe the use of a particular language,” Reyes said.
Spaces for preservation
Despite these challenges, some universities continue to provide spaces for preservation.
“Some research papers tackle the history, language, and culture of cultural minorities,” Angeles said. “Local literature can be integrated into formative and summative assessments through retelling and translation, which mentions local terms and practices.”
Universities like UST and Ateneo de Manila University run programs that intellectualize Filipino and support endangered languages through translation, cultural studies, and collaborations with the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF).
At UST, the Department of Filipino and the Sentro sa Salin at Araling Salin are working with various academic units to intellectualize Filipino through initiatives like the long-running Panayam Pang-agham, which for decades has “promoted the use of the national language in science and technology.”
“As Thomasians, we can help by starting the conversation in our courses and organizational activities,” Angeles said.
In Ateneo de Manila, the Filipino department has been striving to strengthen the use of Filipino, though it remains a challenge since many students enter the university already accustomed to speaking primarily in English, with some no longer fluent in their own regional languages, Coroza said.
Because of this, the department has had to be assertive in teaching Filipino, even offering a subject originally designed as “Filipino for Foreigners” but later adapted for Filipinos who could no longer speak the national language.
For Coroza, the future of Philippine languages is at a crossroads. If the nation continues privileging English over its own heritage, the country may produce generations of globally employable citizens—yet stripped of their cultural anchors.
“Maraming mga tao na ang nagigising na sa katotohanan na kailangan itaguyod ‘yong wika. Dahil kakabit ng wika ang kultura. Nasa wika ang kultura. Nasa wika ang identidad, ang pagkatao,” Coroza said. Alexandra S. Demaisip
