Cebuano is a language, it is not a dialect

For our special presentation on our talkshow on Straight from the Sky, we introduce to our TV viewers newly-appointed Department of Tourism-7 Regional Director Shalimar Hofer Tamano who got his marching orders only last January 4. When I met him last November 17 during the Wine Experience event of the Joseph Brothers at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, we had a very long talk, but he had no inkling that he would be assigned in Cebu. He got the position only after Christmas.

Since my good friend, Patria Dawnee Roa retired from the DOT, there have been at least three regional directors in Region 7, but somehow they did not make an impact, perhaps because Dawnee Roa stayed so long she left huge shoes to fill. The other DOT Director, Catalino Chan III suddenly died before I could meet him. So call me lucky that finally, we have a Cebuano speaking regional director for the DOT and I wish him all the best.

So allow me to bring to your television screens DOT Regional Director Shalimar Tamano tonight on SkyCable's channel 53 at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV's channel 30 at 9 p.m. Monday and at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.

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When I read in The Philippine STAR that Pres. Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte directed his Cabinet members to learn the "Visayan dialect" it gave me an insight as to how many people mistake Visayan as a dialect which is totally untrue.

If you didn't know, a dialect is a branch of a language. And many people wrongly think that Cebuano is a dialect of the Pilipino Language. This is far from the truth. Pilipino is taken 99% from the Tagalog Language and therefore, technically, Pilipino should be a dialect of Tagalog. But then only a handful of people know this as fact. Yes, that includes Pres. Duterte and when I meet him on February 12, I will give him a little lesson in languages.

I have an internet group called Defenders of Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago (DILA) that defends the use of the Cebuano language and prevent its extinction. To prove that this reality exists today, only last January 29, my dear friend and the daughter of the late Sir Max Soliven, Sarah Soliven de Guzman, wrote a column entitled "Kapampangan-a dying language, a serious threat to culture and identity." Here are a few paragraphs:

"Ten years ago, articles have already been written about the alarming issue on Kapampangan and Pangasinan as dying languages. Experts say that soon these languages will become extinct. The Philippines has more than a hundred languages. Eight are considered major languages: Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon and, Waray-Samarnon.

"According to George Molina of Ethnic Groups of the Philippines, there will be a high death toll of languages unless urgent measures are adopted to preserve them. The past few decades have witnessed the extinction of such languages as Agta Villa Viciosa,Agta Dicamay,Ayta Tayabas, and Ermiteño; many Filipino languages are now on the endangered list. How and why does a language die? A language dies when it is only used for oral expression and not as written language. The oral use of the language whether legislated or not is more often used for easier communication."

Thanks to groups like the Lubas sa Dagang Binisaya (LUDABI), all the Cebuano newspapers and Cebuano radio news and commentaries, Cebuano will never go extinct! But unfortunately for Kapampangan, their proximity to Metro Manila has devastated the use of their language.

But it doesn't mean that Tagalog-speaking people are not making inroads in Metro Cebu. This is why when I get orders in a MacDonald's or Starbucks, when they greet me in Tagalog, I answer in Cebuano, then ask them if they have been in Cebu for a long time. If they say they have been here for some time I always ask them when they will learn Cebuano. In short, I tell them not to speak to me in Tagalog because we are not Tagalog speakers. This is why I fully support Federalism so we can make Cebuano our Federal Language, like Catalan is the language of Barcelona, not Spanish!