PBBM to Pinoys: Love national language

PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday asked Filipinos to love and honor the national language which he said is important in fostering the Filipino identity.

“The National Language Month is not just a reminder; it is also an invitation that we continue to love and enrich our languages,” Marcos said in Filipino in his message on the observance of the Buwan ng Wika.

He said the national language has been instrumental in strengthening the Filipinos’ unity and in achieving the country’s independence.

The President encouraged the public, especially the younger generation, to patronize and support the country’s different literary works which he said are filled with masterpieces that would inspire and deepen one’s love for the country.

He said Filipinos should even take these literary pieces to heart and mind to foster greater collaboration among them for a progressive, free, and unified country.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos, through Proclamation No. 1041 issued on July 15, 1997, declared August as the “Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa,” or National Language Month.

As this developed, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) concluded its latest round of 20-day “Tara, Basa” tutoring sessions which benefitted 120,359 college students, struggling and non-reader elementary learners, and parents.

“After 20 reading and Nanay-Tatay sessions, the DSWD, through the help of our trained college students, has assisted a total of 54,985 struggling and non-reader elementary learners and another 54,985 parents and guardians,” said DSWD Assistant Secretary and spokeswoman Irene Dumlao said yesterday.

Dumlao said college students — consisting of 8,000 tutors and 2,389 youth development workers — also participated in the program by conducting the 20-day reading tutoring sessions for the grade 2 learners and the Nanay-Tatay sessions for their parents. Both the student tutors and the parents received allowances during the 20-day session.

The program, which was piloted last year in the National Capital Region (NCR), has been expanded to cities and provinces in Regions III (Central Luzon), IV-A (Calabarzon), VII (Central Visayas), VIII (Eastern Visayas), X (Northern Mindanao), and XII