Former Cordilleran student leader Timmy Mondiguing is vehemently against the use of Filipino as the medium of learning in schools and expressed support to Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s push for the enhancement of using English in teaching.
“Unfortunately, when we say ‘Filipino’ it usually means ‘Tagalog’ and when you actually do a survey, it is not the commonly spoken language in our country. Besides, it is one’s facility in the English language that usually helps you get a job especially abroad,” Mondiguing said.
In the southern part of the country, Mondiguing said 90 percent of Filipinos speak in Bisaya while residents of the north speak Iluko. These are followed by Ilonggo, Pangasinense, Kapampangan, Waray and other ethnic languages.
“This being the case, where does Tagalog sit? Aren’t Filipinos preferred by employers abroad because of our facility in English?” Mondiquing asked.
Mondiguing, also a civic leader and former ranking government personnel, is advising groups calling for the use of Filipino as the medium of instruction in schools in the country to be more pragmatic and check how this would cost individual jobs and the economy as a whole.
“It’s totally fine that Filipino (Tagalog) is our national language. However, these groups better wake up and check reality before insisting on making it the medium of instructions in our schools,” Mondiguing said.
He posed a challenge to these groups: “With all due respect, if your speaking Tagalog will feed your loved ones or your future family, then so be it.”
Mondiguing is also batting for the immediate and “honest-to-goodness” review of the K to 12 educational system that has been in place for the past several years having been instituted during the time of the late former Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.
“Was this system beneficial or just a burden to parents, many of whom are already having a difficult time putting food on the table?” Mondiguing said. – Press release
