Senator calls for dying languages to be revived

Manila: A senator has called on congress and the government to work together in a bid to save 11 ethnic languages which have shown signs of dying.

"The government must save dying ethnic languages by allowing them to be used as a medium of instruction in elementary schools in the respective regions where they are widely spoken," said Senator Aquilino Pimentel.

"Now is the time to make the first move to revise the curriculum of our educational system so that we can allow the use of the local languages as the medium of instruction in our grade schools," Pimentel added.

The constitution has mandated that Filipino or Tagalog is the country's national language. It is widely spoken in Metro Manila and in the provinces of southern and central Luzon.

"The identification of one national language has resulted in the unfair death of other rich languages, said Pimentel.