Filipino as the Language that Makes Us Who We are

In Henry Funcheta’s article, he stated that it is hard to unite he Filipinos linguistically because the Philippines is a multicultural and multilingual country thus, making it difficult to come up with a national language. However, he believes that the Filipino language has the most potential in uniting our country.

I would very much agree with his opinion. Yes, it is hard to unite the Filipinos in terms of language, but I believe that the Filipino language can do so. A common misconception is that Filipino and Tagalog are the same. However, Filipino is a language that is live and fluid. It is open to new words from various native languages. This will hopefully add terms in native languages that have no direct translation in Tagalog. It will bind us together as a country, as it slowly and is trying to encapsulate the many cultures of the Philippines. Funcheta also stated that it is only through the mother tongue that we can truly express who we are. We must learn the Filipino language by heart so that through it, we can say that we are not only Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Illonggo or Bicolano, but also we can say that we are Filipino, one with the countrymen even from different cultures or speaking different native languages.

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2008/08/22/the.filipino.language.as.spirit.of.national.identity.html