Baybayin

Pinatibay ng Librong ito ang aking paniniwala sa kakayahan ng mga kabataan na mag-ambag sa paghubog ng pambansong kamalayan. Pinalutang ng may-akda ang kahalagahan ng mapanuring pagtanaw sa angking kulturang kayamanan at kakaibang kakayahan. Patunay ito sa karunungang ipinamana ng ating mga ninuno. Bata man o may ilang taong gulang na, kaya nating aralin ang sinaunang paraan ng pagsulat at pagbasa na siyang nagpapakinang sa "identity" ng ating lahi. Nawa'y mahikayat ang maraming kababayan na matutong mag-Baybayin. Kunin natin ang pagkakataong ito na ipamalas sa buong daigdig ng may taglay tayong sariling kaalaman. MABUHAY tayong lahat!

About  the Authors

Alleli Ester C. Domingo
Associate Professor, UP Los Baños
Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics

Reviving a lost culture can be very tricky. The year 1668 was the time when Filipinos lost track of the indigenous ancient syllabary after the official doctrine booklets (Doctrina Christiana) removed Baybayin scripts in its texts. Since that time, very few and scattered unsuccessful efforts to resurrect the writings were recorded, The Compendio del Arte de la Lengua Tagala (1703), Ensayos de Gramatica Hispano Tagala (1878), Alfabetos Flipinos (Marcilla 1895) to name a few, all fizzled-out to give way to the Latinized alphabet. The Decree of Pres. Manuel Quezon in 1939 declaring Tagalog as the national language was in a way one reason for gathering a fragmented nation brOught about by the Spaniard's divide and rule pollcy. Everything was set for the Bureau of Education (September 1940) to implement Baybayin script revival with the book Sinupan ng Wikang Tagalog (A Regathering of the Filipino Language: Sevillo/Alvero 1939) as the template, but unfortunately, war rumblings became louder and louder relegating the scripts into oblivion. Luckily, the spoken language survived the times up until now. An effort to revive the Filipino Syllabary kicked-off in 2009 with the help of Baybayin Buhayin Group. Works done by writers, like this book by Anji Milcah Resurreccion, will help catalyze the long awaited tipping point when Filipinos just want to be Baybayin savvy. Mabuhay!

Bonifacio Comandante, Jr. Ph.D.
Agricultural Engineer from UP Los Baños
Anthropologist from Silliman University
Scientist and multi-awarded Inventor of
Sleeping Fish Technology