The Development of Filipino

It is stated by an article by Belvez, Paz, that there are “over 170 native languages being spoken in all of the 7107 islands in the Philippines”. With this being said, the 1937 Constitution states that the Congress shall make necessary steps to towards the development of the National Language which will be based on the existing native languages in the Philippines. Based on his article, this purpose for the mentioning of “existing native languages” is for the insurance of the continuity of the native languages in the Philippines. Yet, as the years progressed, the Congress decided on one major language to be used as a biased basis for the development of the National Language, they chose Tagalog. This sparked yet again another issue concerning the development of Filipino, till finally in 1987, the Congress made the decision of implementing recommendations on the policy that should be adapted. With this decision, the 1987 Constitution was born, where it States “The National Language of the Philippines is Filipino, while moving forward, it will continue to be based on native languages found in the Philippines”. I guess the congress found the mistake in their biased decision of making Filipino majorly based on Tagalog and failed to input the other beautiful and diverse languages of the Phillipines.

http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-disseminationscd/language-and-translation/development-of-filipino-the-national-language-of-the-philippines/