THE WRITE STUFF

I am fascinated with anything pre-colonial. I also happen to be a calligraphy enthusiast. And so when a Baybayin Seminar Workshop was posted on Facebook, I had no second thoughts about signing up for the event. Organized by the Social Sciences Club of the Philippine Normal University under the auspices of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the workshop was a half day affair that was open to the public. Surprisingly, there were other students from different universities in Manila who made the effort to join the workshop. I was, however, the only one past the half century mark. it was  rather amusing for the adviser of the Social Science Club;  Prof. Arsenia Gomez to have mistaken me for one of the speakers.

It wasn't difficult to find the venue. The Geronima T. Pecson auditorium is right smack on the second floor of the  main building. The security were friendly and well-informed of the event. I just needed to sign on the master list when they could not find my name on the master list and they waved me through. Like any other school program, it didn't start on time. They had to wait a little for  the two speakers to arrive and then a little more for some of the students of the other universities. By two p.m., the national anthem was played and an invocation followed.

The first speaker was Mr. Leo M. Batoon of the National Museum. His presentation, The Origins and Prospects of Baybayin, was indeed an eye-opener. He clarifies the differences between baybayin and the alphabet. Incidentally, the word "alibata" which referred to our particular script is a misnomer. The term itself  is a coined word referring to the alphabet: the first three letters alpha and beta. Not quite an exact term for our way of communicating.  Baybayin is not an alphabet. Baybayin is a syllabary. An alphabet combines letters to form sounds... sounds into words    and words into ideas. Baybayin represents a syllable. They form words when put together according to the sound the words make. We spell words as pronounced  and so baybayin makes it easier for us to convey what we want.

Mr. Leo Batoon of the National Museum

Leo Batoon does one better by saying that Filipinos relied more on the spoken word and oral tradition to convey thoughts and emotions rather than write them down. Ergo, we have intangible world heritage traditions like the Hudhud of Ifugao, the Darangen of the Tausugs and the Hinilawod of Panay. These are passed on from one generation to the next by virtue of our oral tradition.

Our method of writing originated from the Hindu missionaries from India during the reign of King Ashoka (268-232 BC). This written script eventually filtered down to us by way of Indonesia.  And so, the script has undergone a modicum of adaptation and alteration. we developed Baybayin to become our own. And so the earliest evidence we have of our written script is the Laguna Copperplate that dates back to 900 A.D. Accidentally found in the river banks between Pila and Liliw, Laguna, the piece of metal relates how a slave and his family earned freedom by repaying their debt in gold. The next archeological find was the Butuan Ivory seal which was dated at 1002 A.D. The Ticao Tablet was found, then the Butuan Paleograph (14-15c). The most recent find was the Calatagan Clay pot that had baybayin inscribed around the pot's lip (15c.).

At the moment, four groups of indigenous people still use baybayin as a written form of communication.: Palawan, Tagbanua, Hanunoo Mangyans and Buhid Mangyan. The awareness for  baybayin is re-emerging. This interest has prompted no less than Representative  Leopoldo Bataoil to file House Bill 1022 seeking to make Baybayin as the National Writing System:

"The bill declares there is a need to promote, protect, preserve and conserve "Baybayin" as the National Writing System of the Philippines, using it as a tool for cultural and economic development to create a consciousness, respect and pride for the legacies of Filipino cultural history, heritage and the country's authentic identity."

• The bill also requires newspaper and magazine publishers to include a Baybayin translation of their name in Baybayin.

• Lastly, the measure shall direct the appropriate government agency to disseminate knowledge and information about Baybayin by distributing reading materials in all levels of public and private educational institutions and government and private agencies and offices.

• Bataoil said that this shall instil awareness of Baybayin as the national writing system and to conduct staff trainings for the proper handling of these documents.

• The NCCA is tasked to protect, preserve, and conserve Baybayin as a National Cultural Treasure.

 
• The NCCA, together with the DepEd, Department of Interior and Local Government, and Commission on Higher Education shall formulate the implementing rules and regulations of the bill.

The next speaker was Leo Emmanuel Castro. He is an accomplished artist (Hibla Sanghabi), an advocate of baybayin and an NGO administrator (Sanghabi). He further expounds on  Mr. Batoon's presentation with facts regarding the earliest acknowledgement by the Spaniards of Baybayin. 

• Mr Castro reinforces the early acknowledgement by the Spaniards in 1613 when the term baybayin is mentioned in the Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala.
• The term alibata was coined by Paul Versoza (1913) taking into account the first three letters of the Arabic script; alef ba ta, because it oddly looked similar to the arabic. While the alphabet is coined from the first two letters "alpha" and "beta" taken from the Greeks.
• Spanish historians Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J. and Antonio de Morga notes in their own accounts that Filipinos had established their own method of writing that was easy to learn and that everyone could read. However, Mr. Castro avers that writing was a personal pre-occupation amongst friends and acquaintances. And that baybayin had its counterparts in  other regions. In Ilocos the scriptis known as "kurditan". In the Visayas, it was called "badlitan" while in Pampangathey called it "kulitan"
• The very first book printed in the Philippines in 1593, Doctrina Christiana were printed iin Spanish, Tagalog and Baybayin

And so, as an artist, educator and advocate of baybayin, Mr. Castro taught the participants the mechanics of learning how to write in baybayin. In more than 15 years of writing and teacing baybayin to enthusiasts and now, millenials he is such an expet at baybayin he doeasn't need to copy the symbols from a "codigo". It is worth remembering that baybayin is phonetic. Ergo, the words are spelled as pronounced. It is therefore possible to apply the use of  baybayin for other languages. Consisting of only 17 syllables, putting them together is easy to recall. To pause for a sentence a slash/line is drawn (/). To end a statement, the slash or line is doubled (//) . To indicate an a strong or mellow accent, a symbol (>) is placed above or below the syllable. The use of Baybayin actually progressed into the Spanish colonial era. The Spanish friars actually added the symbol(+) beneath or at the right of the syllable to indicate that a syllable's letter can stand alone along with other syllable to spell a word. Since there were no punctuation marks, the syllable ba was used to mark an interrogative statement.

I had so much fun learning how to write in baybayin in one afternoon that I now spend at least 30 minutes a day using it to write words.After all, once baybayin in re-introduced into the mainstream, one should be able to understand what the syllabary really means. I actually appreciate it for its simplicity and fluid lines. Once it gets re-introduced into our school system, it will be seen in all public places and in dailies and transport. My experience tells me I should practice more...