Kadlit Kolum: Koleksiyon ng mga Kolum

The Tales of "Pilita and the Beks" or When Filipinos Discriminate Gayspeak

Aside from being judged for simply being you, people may also judge how you speak to them.

They say that language is an expression of your will, and you have the freedom to use the language of your choice. However, people have a tendency to discriminate people's identities, using the language spoken as a yard stick of sorts.

People sometimes blurt hurtful things that suggest some form of ascendance to people who do not belong to the same linguistic group. This suggests that language lays down more ways to further divide people.

Language is the tool for further expression, as we have discussed in my previous column. But despite its noble purposes like facilitating the exchange of ideas, allowing the flourishing of culture and the like, why is that people have found a way to use language to degrade fellow humans?

Why does linguistic discrimination exist and why do people use it to further divide themselves? Can one negative expression change a person's perspective of life? These are the questions that arise when we think of the relationship between language and discrimination.

In the Philippine context, this type of discrimination has always existed. When a Tagalog speaker overhears a Cebuano or any Visayan language speaker, he or she would laugh or ridicule that person in the worst possible situations and in the worst possible ways.

PILITA CORRALES' ACCOUNT

I once watched a documentary show called 'Pipol'. The episode was about Pilita Corrales. When she came back from Australia to Manila in 1963, she only knew how to speak Cebuano, English and Spanish. Aside from hosting a Spanish-language radio show called 'La taverna', she also acted in Manila Grand Opera shows.

This point in time may have been the start of her burden of being ridiculed for being a Cebuano speaker and for not knowing how to speak Tagalog.

In her own words, she said, "I couldn't speak Tagalog, only Bisaya, of course. That's when they found out and made me like a comedienne." Since then, never-ending disgrace has been placed on the shoulders of the next generation of Cebuano speakers.

CREATING A GREATER DIVIDE

This has been a concern for it promotes greater divide amongst Filipinos.

It creates a senseless new space for hatred, and all because some people speak differently than others. This kind of thinking tells us that since National Capital Region settlers dominantly speak Filipino, which is largely based on Tagalog, so should the whole country.

We also discriminate others when we ridicule someone who speaks Tagalog but could not speak English. We probably developed this bias because English is the language of business and power. Most of the time, your fellow Filipino would ridicule you for not having aptitude or proficiency in English. It is a continuing saga of unending linguicism.

LGBT: ALSO TARGETS

One may ask, "How about the situation now?"

Sadly, even the members of the LGBT community have become targets. Gayspeak or Swardspeak is basically gay lingo here in the Philippines. Although it is accepted as sociolect, there are people who think that it is wrong to use gay lingo in day to day social interactions.

Recently, a discourse took place between the previous presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and Jojo Binay's media office head Joey Salgado. Ramon Tulfo implored how a discussion of a national issue has become.

Maybe, he has a point. But if he meant that he despises the gay community, that is where the problem starts. It shows that the LGBT community can really be a target of either discrimination or even outright stigmatization, which is far worse than just discrimination.

VIEWS ON SPEAKER IDENTITY

A person, arrogantly sitting on a couch may ask, "What does this have to do with me?"

As an ordinary person, someone might think that it is fine to ridicule another person's language, in addition to his or her identity. Imagine if you are in the shoes of those who are facing this kind of cultural atrocity every single day.

A Tagalog speaker may laugh at someone who speaks Cebuano or Hiligaynon, but its consequences can damage communication between linguistic groups and will certainly fracture present and future opportunities for further discussion and discourse. As one famed linguist said, "Every language has its own view of the universe."

Be it a gay person who speaks gay lingo, or anyone who speaks a different language from you, every person should be able to express himself/herself in the language of one's choosing, without fearing repercussions such as outright linguistic discrimination.

Diminishing and eventually eradicating linguicism depends on us. Instead of ridiculing the likes of Pilita and the Beks, why not just talk to them and clarify what they mean?

Promote greater understanding. Help fellow Filipinos by championing a new culture of tolerance and respect.

After all, it is not the language the makes us who we are, it is our choices that show our real selves toward other people.

SOURCES:

Oreña-Drilon, C. (Writer). (2012, July 18). Pipol on ANC: The X Factor of Pilita Corrales [Video file]. Retrieved June 17, 2018, from www.youtube.com

Obligacion, F. (2015, August 17). 'Gayspeak,' linguistic prejudice and discrimination. Inquirer.net. Retrieved June 17, 2018, from http://opinion.inquirer.net

Mojarro, J. (2015, July 31). On the Philippines' diversity of languages. Business World. Retrieved June 20, 2018, from http://bworldonline.com

|| This column is for the segment "FLUMA" by Basil Bacor, Jr. - one of the columnists of the Katipunan ng Alternatibong Dibuho, Liriko, at Titik.