Celebrating Filipino, the National Language of the Philippines

In August, the Philippines celebrates Filipino as its national language. During this National Language Month, school activities focus on speaking Filipino and on Philippine culture.

While people in different parts of the Philippines speak an estimated 171 native languages or dialects, all schoolchildren learn Filipino, which was designated as the national language by the constitution of the Philippines in 1987. Speaking a common national language allows those in the Philippines to express themselves as a people of one nation.

Based on Tagalog, but incorporating words from other Philippine native languages as well as foreign words (especially from Spanish and English), the ultimate designation of Filipino as the national language has an interesting history.

The article below describes some of the activities in the Philippines to celebrate Filipino as the national language and Philippine culture.

Celebrating National Language Month in the Philippines

 National Language Month (Buwan ng Wika)

In order to highlight the Filipino language as the national language of the Philippines and, in turn, as a symbol of national unity, it is celebrated in the Philippines during National Language Month (Buwan ng Wika), held every August. Below is a brief timeline of how the National Language Month came to be:

Although the Filipino language is the main cause for celebration during this month, Philippine culture and traditions are also celebrated. The big events of the celebration take place during National Language Week (August 13-19), and are usually organized by all public and private schools, involving performances and contests participated in by students of all ages. Below are some of the common activities in schools during National Language Week:

Sabayang Pagbigkas (Group Oration)

Philippine schools are organized by class sections, with each section having 30-45 students. During National Language Week, each class chooses a traditional Filipino poem to recite as a class in front of the whole school. The students usually perform the poems in costume and choreograph gestures to give life to the words. This activity highlights the beauty of the Filipino language as used in Philippine literature.

Philippine National Costumes

During National Language Week, students and teachers come to school in traditional Philippine attire. The best-dressed individuals are usually awarded prizes during the ending ceremonies, with categories for both students and teachers. This is done to show that despite the cultural diversity represented by the different Philippine attires, the people of the country are unified by the one common language that they all speak: Filipino.

Palarong-Pambansa (Traditional Games of the Philippines)

Another day of National Language Week is dedicated to the Palarong-Pambansa. On this day, students group together and compete in games traditionally played by children in the Philippines. One of the most popular games is patintero, which involves a grid drawn on the ground, one team scattered along the lines, and the opposing team trying to get past from one side of the grid to the other without getting caught by the other team’s members. Other popular games are piko, tumbang preso, and luksong tinik. Like the Filipino language, these traditional games represent a culture that the Philippine people call their own.

Poster and Poem Contests

Students are given topics related to Philippine culture or the Filipino language and are asked to create posters or poems that depict or elaborate on the topics given. With these activities, the importance of Filipino as a national language is again highlighted as something the people of the country should be proud of as part of Philippine culture.

 Ask RemitHome: Sending Money to a Joint Account

Question: I want to deposit money to my sister’s bank account in the Philippines, but she shares the account with her husband. How can I send money to her joint account?

Answer: To deposit money to a bank account in the Philippines, the information included in your recipient profile must reflect the exact registration on the bank account. So if the bank account is a joint account, where two or more individuals have access to the account, all the names must appear on the recipient profile.

In your case, to deposit to a joint account with two account holders, you need to create a recipient profile with both account holder names exactly as they appear on the bank account. After logging into your RemitHome account, go to the Add Recipient page and enter the first account holder’s name in the text box labeled “First”, the second account holder’s name in the text box labeled “Last”, and enter “or” into the text box labled “Middle Name or Initial”. For example, if the bank account is in the name of Jose L. Cruz and Ermita R. Lim, complete the name text boxes as follows: