Filipino Language and Filipino Philosophy from the Perspective of Four Professors from the South: Interviews with Leonardo Mercado, Ryan Maboloc, Ruby Suazo, and Jeffry Ocay
Keywords:
Filipino, Language, PhilosophyAbstract
The use of the Filipino national language in the Philippine educational system has varied effects in the linguistically diverse Philippines. In the realm of Philosophy, advocating for the Filipino national language as a strategy in philosophizing and developing Filipino philosophy may sound politically correct, especially if done in the Tagalog-speaking areas. However, such advocacy may mean differently in non-Tagalog-speaking areas. The advocates of the Filipino language for Filipino philosophy trace their principles to such renowned Filipino philosophers as Ferriols, the first one to use the Filipino language as a medium of philosophical-educational instruction, and Quito, the first one to use the same language in writing and publishing philosophical works. This paper, consisting of interviews, takes a look at the same advocacy from the perspective of four Philosophy professors Mercado, Maboloc, Suazo, and Ocay. The intention of this interview paper is to show that the relationship between language and Filipino philosophy is still a problematic issue that needs to be philosophically explored further. The voices of these four professors must also be heard and taken into consideration by anyone with the tendency to pontificate for simplistic principle that Filipino language should be used in philosophizing and developing Filipino philosophy.
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