Ancient Phl script revival spells debate

MANILA — With deliberate golden strokes, artist Taipan Lucero proudly brings an ancient script back to life, in the hope of promoting an endangered but contentious part of the Philippines’ heritage.

Once confined to history classes, Baybayin, a 17-character indigenous script used before Spanish colonisation, is making a comeback among the nation’s millennials, young professionals and diaspora.

Even as technology renders writing by hand outdated, online clips of calligraphy and digital fonts for the script have gripped the smartphone generation and now Baybayin – last used hundreds of years ago – is appearing on everything from tattoos and t-shirts to mobile apps.

Proponents hail the curvilinear text as a crucial part of Philippine identity, but in a country with 131 governmentrecognised languages – critics say investing in the promotion of one ancient text over others is controversial and impractical.

“It’s bittersweet. It made me proud knowing our ancestors were literate,” said Lucero, who studied calligraphy in Japan but returned home to apply his skills to reviving Baybayin.

“What’s sad about this is what’s being propagated in our education system. It’s like our history started with being colonised by Spain,” the 31-year-old added.

Baybayin was the form of writing used before the Spanish arrived in 1521 and missionaries had to learn it initially to spread Catholicism before forcing locals to adopt their Roman alphabet, historians say.

Its resurgence has prompted calls from some for a law declaring Baybayin the national script. But regional scholars say the text is important mainly to Tagalogs – the people historically based in and around the capital – rather than to all Filipinos.