Indi lang kamo - tale of
GSIS members' woes

Wednesday, I was in Iloilo City. And I discovered that there was also a long line of GSIS members waiting for their turn in front of the ATM of the Union Bank of the city to withdraw their cash dividend.

And, the security guards of the Amigo Terrace Hotel, told me that these lines of people had been there already for more than a week. The same scene as the queue in front of the Union Bank of Bacolod City.

In short, hindi lang kamo. That's the message to Bacolod and Negrense GSIS members.

The spectacle should prompt GSIS to review their system of eCard encashment. True, they claim that these can be gotten in other ATMs. But these incidents are far in-between.

The horror is building up. So with tempers. And it may not be too long before the incident blows up into a major explosion.

Some questions - is the GSIS deliberately slowing down the liquidation of the eCards? It is trying to habituate people to patronize Union Bank? Or they simply cannot overcome a drastic mindset that would impose such travails on GSIS members?

These are just some of the issues that have been raised so far. And there is the other malicious one - is it done to allow Union Bank to make use of the deposited money for the time being?

These demand immediate answers. GSIS officials should not temporize. The agency had long been the objective of brickbats by members. It cannot afford to have its image smeared further.

****

It was fortunate. The conk out of the Weesam engine on the 2:30 p.m. trip back to Bacolod. It was then that I spotted the newly-inaugurated "Blue Sky."

Timely, I thought. The reason why, instead of worrying about a scheduled appointment in Bacolod, I preferred to take my siesta. On board the same boat were Mari Miranda, Primo Esleyer and Tony Benedicto.

But, as I had pointed out earlier, the bothersome thing was that the shipping firm did not have a winch that could have been used to bring in the vessel at the BREDCO port. Thus, the astonishing sight of four porters dragging the rope to bring it in.

Blue Sky's inaugural trip buoyed up my confidence that in the forthcoming days, the trip between Iloilo and Bacolod will be served by the brand new "Blue Sky", a fast craft as comfortable as the Supercats of the Aboitiz Company which had been phased out.

****

Tagaligtas appear to have forgotten the historical background for the imposition of the "national language" on the Filipino educational system.

Save Our Language Through Federalism president Dr. Joey Dacudao, Wednesday presented us (the convenors) with his paper showing that it actually was a masterful maneuver by the Japanese Imperial Forces.

It was a deliberate move to extricate us from dependence on English under the Americans. Under the pretext of freeing the Philippines from continued dependence on the US, the Japanese overloads then introduced the compulsory study of the Japanese language and "tagalog or national language" in lieu of English.

Both then President Jose Laurel Sr. of the "Puppet Republic", and the eminent Senator Carlo Recto agreed to the scheme.

That started the "disastrous" enforcement of the "national language". Worse, what had been taught all the time was not a true national language but basically Tagalog which had been also doctored to the point that even Tagalog, themselves, found it hard to understand the so-called national language.

In the process, with its use as medium of instruction in the lower grades, teaching became almost impossible. Even Dr. Augusto de Viana, research and publication head of the National Historical Institute, recently admitted in a public speech that even he, a born Tagalog, could hardly understand much less speak in the national language which Ms. Virgie Janiola of the Graciano Lopez Jaena Elementary School gave out.

Kudos to Ms. Janiola for mastering that language. But even City Supt. Mila Gonzales whispered to me that she had studied several years in Manila, could converse in Tagalog "of the streets", but admitted that she could neither understand the "national language."

In various parts of the country, there has been a growing movement to save our native language. The point - when you destroy the ethnolinguistic tongue of the people, you destroy their soul, i.e. their culture disappears, so with their history.

That is why, in the Caraga Region, Dr. Dacudao reported, disc jockeys of radio stations, have started to use Butuanon and Cebuano in their commentaries and their programs.

And, yes, they also had the National Anthem translated into Butuanon. And the dwindling number of Butuan residents and natives speaking their mother tongue, have considerably risen.

"And, the more notable result - we are communicating with one another more effective," Dr. Dacudao pointed out. And, yes, he is aided by Taylor Calo who had recently helped organize the Antique SOLFED that is reviving interest in the Kinaray-a. That had touched Antique Governor Sally Zaldivar-Perez, also Regional Development Council chair, who recently astonished a lot of people when she and Rep. Janette Garin (1st District, Iloilo) paid tribute to their native tongue by using it in their public speeches during an RDC meet.

Pototan Councilor Palo M. Guanco hailed the language revival movement. So with Guimaras' Richard Cesar who pointed out that there is a need to revive the interest in our local languages. Miss Ma. Judith Palu-ay Muyco is the SOLFED Panay coordinator. She reported how, because of this revival movement, even the Aklanons are now proudly proclaiming their adherence to their native language. Not only that, she surprised me with the information that a portion of the province, mostly made up of the Northern towns, have their own tongue-twisting dialect.

Now, I think that is something that may prove very interesting. In short, there are folk tales and historical tidbits that may remain subject to historical or anthropological research.

That could shed further light on our past.

That, I thought, could not happen had we remained still entranced by the national language law.

As a matter of fact, that was something which made me wonder. Where now are the many folk tales I had learned from my childhood days from the mouth of our maid - Matilde? Most of these I had forgotten, except for some snatches. But imagine how much we have missed over the years.

And that is the reason why I must applaud Bagguer Villaluz and Cosette for their collection of Ilonggo songs - compositions by the late Congressman Augurio Abeto and the works even of former Judge Norberto Romualdez.*

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