The Hangul Elective

Lately there's been some controversy among certain "Pinoy Pride" circles over the Department of Education's move to incorporate Hangul as an elective subject in high school. Many were quick to bemoan the promotion of a foreign language at a time when the Filipino language itself wasn't being developed.

The move coincided with the Supreme Court's lifting this 2018 of the Temporary Restraining Order they issued on 2014 against the removal of Filipino Grammar and Literature from the core general education course list for state colleges and universities. Some people (presumably rabid K-pop haters) allege that the government has sold out to the Koreans and are moving to switch our local curriculum with Korean curriculum.

I am a rabid K-pop hater. I like poking fun at other nationalities in Tagalog or Bisaya which I assume they don't understand (just kidding) so I get paranoid whenever I hear someone talking or singing in a language I don't understand. But I also believe that the criticism against the DepEd, Supreme Court, Koreans, and their language is uncalled for.

There have been two separate processes, if you will, that led to the seeming switch. First was the already mentioned lifting of the 2014 TRO by the Supreme Court. But this was a discourse that predates the issue of the teaching of Korean in high school, and the curriculum affected by the removal of Filipino subjects would be the tertiary level, not high school.

The other process is the DepEd's Special Program in Foreign Language, a program for teaching foreign languages as electives in high school. Until the addition of Hangul, the program consisted of Spanish, Nihongo, French, German, and Mandarin. The memorandum of agreement was signed between the DepEd and the Korean embassy in 2017, for a 2018 rollout. These are all elective courses, which means the student is free to sign up for them or not.

As far as I know, neither move had anything to do with each other. But since the lifting of the TRO and the introduction of Hangul happened almost simultaneously, the trolls and the screaming ignorant were quick to see a connection.

How have people become so stupid?

Probably due to listening to too much K-pop.

Here's Nico David to explain the issue in greater detail. The following video is a Tagalog vlog.

NOTE: The video above is hereby credited to Nico David. Nico David is a talented Filipino vlogger who produces insightful reviews in an engaging, amusing manner. Please visit his YouTube page for more Tagalog content. He is NOT in any way affiliated with my Steemit vlog other than the fact that I am one of his fans.

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