Origin of the Filipino Language-Lady

Filipino is an Austronesian language that is the standardized version of Tagalog and it is the national and an official language of the Philippines as designated in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Filipino is the official verbal communication in the Philippines however; there are still other sub groups which are involved in it. First is the Northern Philippine language such as Ilokano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, and Sambal languages which are concentrated in northern and central Luzon. Second is Meso Philippine language which is the group with the most speakers and is the most geographically widespread, covering Central Luzon, the Visayas and many parts of Mindanao. The third one is the Southern Philippine language such as Maranao, Maguindanao, Manobo languages, and Subanun languages are concentrated in Mindanao but more than 80% use Visayan or cebuano language. The first three are related geographically: The languages they contain may be not related to each other than they are to languages in further groups. Meanwhile, the smaller, southern groups are more distinct. The fourth one is Southern Mindanao language, which is composed with Tboli and Blaan and these are spoken in southern Mindanao. The fifth one is Sama-Bajaw language, mainly centered in the Sulu Archipelago as well as parts of Borneo. One language, Abaknon, is spoken on Capul Island near Samar, which is far from other Sama languages. The last one is Sulawesi language which has only two representatives in the Philippines, the Sangil and the Sangir languages. The last three groups are thought to be more distantly related to the earlier three.

The Institute of National Language (INL) group was to make a descriptive and comparative survey of one of the major dialects namely, Tagalog, Kapampangan, Waray, Ilokano, Bikolano, Hiligaynon and Pangasinan. From these, one would be chosen, to become the basis of the national language. After ten months of study, the members decided to propose Tagalog as the basis of the national language. However, many opposed the decision especially the non-Tagalog speakers. The Cebuanos, under the leadership of Paulino Gullas, came to recommend Cebuano as substitute to Tagalog. The opposition against Tagalog arose during the 1960's when INL refused the orthography of Geruncio Lacuesta, a lawyer and editor of a magazine called KATAS. He questioned the 20-letter alphabet, the orthography and the vocabulary. He served as the spokesman of the non-Tagalog’s who felt inferior because of Tagalog’s dominance. On December 23, 1971, the committee on National Language adopted the proposal of the University of the Philippines that proposed the adoption and development of a national lingua franca used all over the country as the National Language. The non-Tagalog delegates finally adopted this proposal. It was in the 1987 Constitution when the search for a National Language made the following declaration in A1ticle XIV, Section 6: "The National language of the Philippines is Filipino."