PhilWiki Community/Board Meetings/2020/Resolution 2020-1

2019 Resolutions Endorsing nominees for new KWF commissioners
2020 Resolutions
This resolution was approved by vote on 12 January 2020.


WHEREAS, the PhilWiki Community (PH-WC) is a free, open and vibrant organization of Filipino volunteers and content editors from the Philippines and all over the world, who believe in the mission and vision of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. As a recognized affiliate organization, it aims to initiate, promote, participate, create, organize, develop and engage in projects, programs and activities that promote free, responsibly open-content resources and reference materials, in English and in different Philippine languages through cost-effective, creative and innovative projects and partnerships with local government units, government agencies, academia, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector;

WHEREAS, PH-WC aims to promote and increase the daily use of Philippine languages and deploy Wikipedia as a resource and medium for the dissemination of open knowledge and learning through these languages;

WHEREAS, PH-WC represents and supports the activities of the various Philippine Wikipedias, among other Wikimedia projects, in the country’s most widely-spoken but nevertheless marginalized languages including, Cebuano, Waray, Ilocano, Bikol, Kapampangan, Zamboanga Chavacano, and Pangasinan, as well as the national language Tagalog (Filipino), and projects which are still in incubation namely Aklan, Capiznon, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Maranao, Miraya Bikol, Pandan Bikol, Rinconada Bikol, and Tausug;

WHEREAS, PH-WC hopes that by giving these regional languages an internationally recognized and prestigious platform for their users, it may raise their profiles and remove any stigma attached to speaking and using them;

WHEREAS, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) has an upcoming election of new commissioners, it is a good opportunity to endorse people who are true experts in their mother tongues, and have a record of using and promoting them; hoping that a new management will reform the KWF into a fairer and more inclusive commission that values diversity and protects all Philippine languages;

NOW THEREFORE, it is hereby RESOLVED, that PhilWiki Community endorses the following nominees for new KWF commissioners:

  1. Dr. Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco (Bikol) - Associate Professor, UP Department of Linguistics, UP- Diliman; Preeminent Filipino linguist and Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) advocate
  2. Prof. Jes B. Tirol, CE, GE, MBA, M.Eng., Ph.D. (Cebuano-Visayan) - Former Dean of College of Engineering, University of Bohol; Champion of using and teaching Binisaya at the college level; Designed graduate courses and MTB-MLE teacher trainings in Binisaya
  3. Dr. Linda R. Andaya (Pangasinan) - President, Association for the Preservation of Pangasinan Language; Author of works on Pangasinan literature and culture; Retired Professor and former Chairman of Languages Department, Pangasinan State University
  4. Prof. Voltaire Q. Oyzon, M.A. (Waray-waray) - Former Director, Panrehiyong Sentro sa Wikang Filipino – Region 8; Associate Professor, Leyte Normal University; Author of major Waray-waray literary works, language studies, and MTB-MLE materials
  5. Joel B. Manuel, M.A.Ed. (Iloko) - Past President, Ilokano Writers Association of the Philippines (GUMIL) – Ilocos Norte; Ilokano author, translator, and MTB-MLE advocate; School Principal IV at Cadaratan National Highschool, Bacarra, Ilocos Norte
  6. Dr. Benjamin S. Bangahan, M.D., FPCP, FPCCP (Moro Languages) - Author of world’s most comprehensive Bahasa Sug dictionary; Former Official Reviewer for DepEd’s MTB-MLE Bahasa Sūg textbook; Tutor on Bahasa Sūg language, Asian Center for Foreign Languages; Medical Doctor
  7. Michael Raymon M. Pangilinan (Kapampangan) - Renowned authority on Kapampangan language and ancient writing system; Executive Director, Institute for Kapampangan Research and Kulitan Studies; Special Lecturer for Kapampangan Culture, City College of Angeles
  8. Dr. Samuel S. Poliden (languages of Northern Cultural Communites) - Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, Benguet State University; Conducted workshops and researches on MTB-MLE, orthography, and Cordilleran languages and cultures
  9. Prof. Eros Atalia III, M.A. (Tagalog) - Multi-awarded writer and poet in Filipino/Tagalog; Teaches Rhetoric, Language, Language Structure, Film Production, Filipino Journalism at University of Santo Tomas; Journalist and columnist; Translator and editor
  10. Francis Tom Aragon Paredes, M.A.Ed (languages of Southern Cultural Communities) - Author of reference works in Surigaonon language and MTB-MLE advocate; College and BOT Secretary V, Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology
  11. Dr. Jose Ma. Eduardo P. Dacudao (Hiligaynon) - President, Save our Languages Through Federalism (SOLFED); Designed courses for teaching Hiligaynon, Butuanon, and other local languages; Neurosurgeon