Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region IV-A (CALABARZON)
CITY SCHOOLS DIVISION OF GENERAL TRIAS
General Trias City
LUIS Y. FERRER JR. SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Am I A Filipino? The Perception of Senior High School

Students about the Removal of Filipino and Pantikang
Pilipino in Tertiary Education

A Research Study submitted to the faculty of Social Sciences Department of Luis Y. Ferrer Jr.

Senior High School

In partial fulfillment of all requirements of Humanities and Social Sciences strand

Carla Marie Arriesgado1

Mark Ian Paulo Cortez2
Shemuwel Joy Cortez3
Ramil Jabolin4
Bless Pauline Obatay5
Kim Rochelle Sevilla6
Michelle Telesforo7

March 2019
 ABSTACT

Filipino is one of the fundamental disciplines in the Philippine education curriculum. It is

tackled from primary to tertiary level of education of the students. Learning the other subject for
Filipino students is impossible without teaching the language and literatures from their country.
This discipline serves as the means of learning the other disciplines such as English, Science,
Math and such. A total of 50 grade 12 students from academic track, namely, Accountancy and
Business Management, Humanities and Social Sciences, and, General Academic, will be the
respondents of this study. Given the data, fifty percent of the respondents are 18 years old while
two per cent of the total respondents are 16 years old. Most of them are female which contain the
78% of the respondents while the remaining 22% are male. The respondents belong to academic
track, 76% of the respondents came from Humanities and Social Sciences and Accountancy and
Business Management while the other 24% came from General Academic. Majority of the
respondents, 44%, has an average grade in Filipino during junior high school ranging from 86 to
91 while few of them, 24%, has an average grade ranging from 80 to 85. The perceptions of
grade 12 academic students about the removal of Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary
education are being evaluated. The respondents strongly agreed that Filipino at Panitikang
Pilipino is essential in building a strong foundation of being a Filipino. Moreover, they strongly
disagreed that Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino had no significant contribution on the former
curriculum. This only means that the removal of Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary
education is not favored by most of the students, especially those students from academic track
that will take tertiary education.
 INTRODUCTION

Filipino is one of the fundamental disciplines in the Philippine education curriculum. It is

tackled from primary to tertiary level of education of the students. Learning the other subject for

Filipino students is impossible without teaching the language and literatures from their country.

This discipline serves as the means of learning the other disciplines such as English, Science,

Math and such.

Moreover, Gabayoyo (2015) stated that learning starts from writing the a-e-i-o-u (vowels)

up to memorizing the a-ba-ka-da (Filipino alphabet). Filipino is considered as one of the

important languages that can be easily learned by the students, technically because they are

Filipinos.

“Culture is evolving way of life of a group of people, consisting of shared set of practices

associated with a shared set of products, based upon shared perspectives on the world, and set

within specific contexts (Moran, 2011).”

Language has different uses. According to Zafra (2013), one of its uses is to help us

learn our own culture and to express these culture in the context of education.

Therefore, if the discussion is about the Philippine culture, Filipino is needed to explain,

react and participate in the class. It is very essential to keep the students learn our language in

order to maintain our culture and tradition. In implementing the K to 12 curriculum, language

and culture can be taught in the context of education.

The removal of Filipino and Panitikang Pilipino had been an issue since 2015. Later this

year, Supreme Court decided to diminish the Filipino and Panitikan in tertiary level of education.
However, Tanggol Wika wanted to protest with this decision of Supreme Court. According to

San Juan, the convener of the group, aside from not having a public hearing, they have not

consulted the Filipino language expert concerning the removal of Filipino and Panitikan.

Moreover, he also stated that it is very important to have these two disciplines in tertiary

education, most especially of the different topics and learning areas to be tackled about the

language and literature in higher level. Social issues and research on language will be given a

higher level of understanding in tertiary level of education (ABS-CBN Journals, 2018).

Statement of the Problem

The study will answer the following questions:

1. What was the demographic profile of the senior high school students in term of:

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Strand

d. Grade in Filipino during Junior High School

2. What did senior high school students perceive about the removal of Filipino and

Panitikan in tertiary education?

Objectives

This research aimed to assess the perception of the senior high school students in

accordance with the removal of Filipino and Panitikan in tertiary education.

1. To determine the demographic profile of the senior high school students.

 2. To assess the perception of senior high school students about the removal of Filipino

and Panitikan in tertiary education.

3. To determine the academic performance of senior high school students in Filipino

disciplines.

Scope and Limitation

This research focused on the perception of the senior high school students in accordance

with the removal of Filipino and Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary education. Researchers collected

respondents from the grade 12 students in academic track of Luis Y. Ferrer Jr. Senior High

School at Brgy. Pasong Kawayan II, City of Gen. Trias, Cavite. This conducted on second

semester of the school year 2018-2019.

Significance of the Study

The study benefited the individuals through the results that will be generated after

conducting the research. Specifically, the study benefited the students. It helped them raise their

level of awareness about the importance of Filipino and Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary education.

Moreover, teachers were also the beneficiary of this research. They could generate ideas that can

help the students understand the basic learning in Filipino. Lastly, the study will help the

government to fairly decide whether they should remove the Filipino and Panitikang Pilipino in

the core subjects of the curriculum in tertiary level of education.

Definition of Terms

For better understanding of the study, the following terms were defined:

Filipino. This is one of the fundamental disciplines in the Philippine education curriculum.
Panitikang Pilipino. It refers to Philippine literature.

Senior High School Students. These are the academic students of grade 12 under K-12

curriculum.

Tertiary Education. It is the highest level of education in Philippine education curriculum.

Conceptual Framework

This research will be

Removal of Filipino
and Panitikang
Pilipino in tertiary
education.
utilized through
questionnaires which
will be evaluated by
selected senior high
school from Luis Y.
Ferrer Jr. Senior High
School.
Senior High School
Students' perception
about the removal of
Filipino and
Panitikang Pilipino in
tertiary education.

Figure 1. Paradigm of the Study

Figure 1 shows the input-process-output of the study. The input of this study was the

removal of Filipino and Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary education. On the other hand, the output

of this study was the perception of senior high school students about the removal of Filipino and

Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary education. This research will be utilized through questionnaires,

which will be evaluated by selected senior high school from Luis Y. Ferrer Jr. Senior High

School.
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Language is a symbol of nationality, of the people, of its suffering, its destiny, its

grandeur, its triumphs; the primary instrument of conception, expression, assimilation and

communication of these experiences therefore ends up being considered as their very sum and

substance (Klainerman, 2008).

Even in the Philippines, the Filipino language is a manifestation of long struggle for

nationhood. President Manuel L. Quezon, the father of Filipino national language, initiated a

proposal for the possession of distinctive national language that will hallmark symbolism of

freedom of the Philippines from any foreign control. More so, the national language is intended

in order for the Filipino to be united and to have a common language that is functional in

communication, in able to bridge the difficulties brought by dialectical ethnicity in the

Philippines. As a result, the Republic Act 7356 is enacted into a law which shows the role of

language in the promotion and development of Philippine culture (Cruz, 2014).

The understanding of language varies locally and internationally. The former viewed

language as nationalistic identity that defines the nationhood of the people. The latter see it as a

ways in order to be globally competitive in the idea of international competency. The depressing

story is the fact that only in 1930’s is when the Philippines possess a language of its own,

beforehand, the national language of the Philippines is Spanish in the time of Spanish

colonization and English in the time of American occupation (Robas, 2016).

Without human language, human culture would not exist. Language plays a crucial role

in the maintenance of human social relationship (Budani, 2014).

Today, people are just thinking that we study language in order to land in a good job and

to be globally competitive. In the Philippines, as pointed out by Studios (2011) speaking English
will make you intelligent and educated. In the sense that, common people in the Philippines are

amazed when they saw a person speaking in English language, most specially, those people in

lower socio-economic status. However, in other countries, speaking in English will only make

you a good communicator. Studying English language allows us to become versatile and

proficient as a language requirement in job interviews and work environments in the Philippines

and overseas. In lieu, English is considered the international language and we cannot deny its

importance.

Filipino language is a manifestation of cultural identity that embraces all dialects in the

Philippines. The studies of Regional languages and provincial dialects are important because

they remain the lingua franca (common language) outside of Metro Manila. If you live in the

province, it is the language you use at home. At the same time, learning Filipino and Regional

language may be the key to national development, but preserving the different dialects is the key

to preserving our heritage. This includes native songs and dances, folktales, beliefs, traditions

and others. All efforts must be made to preserve our heritage by translating them in Filipino and

propagating them through the different parts of the country (Eskwela, 2014).

Language is a tool that can be used to harness the intellectual and humanistic

development of people. The language influences our culture and even our thought processes

(Culture, 2014). To paraphrase a philosophy, language transcend to the humanistic values of the

people that gives a life changing lesson. Essentially, the language and proper usage shapes our

development as a human within the context of our environment.

Language is not just a means of communication, but a symbol of our identity as a people.

Language is not just a story of being globally competitive but a story of sharing our culture and

understanding others. Language binds, not to separate people together (Robas, 2016).
 The Filipino subject is one of the many subjects that Philippine schools offer in

Elementary, Secondary and even in Tertiary levels. This subject is very significant to the

students especially to the Filipino teachers in the country. Recently, the Commission on Higher

Education (CHED) appealed to the Supreme Court (SC) requesting to delete Filipino and

Panitikan subjects in the college curriculum. Some teachers opined that removing Filipino from

the curriculum will leave over 10,000 full-time and 20,000 part-time Filipino professors jobless

or receive lower pay. CHED officials are seemingly very selfish for coming up with the said

proposal, not thinking its effects to the Filipino teachers in the tertiary level (Gabayoyo, 2015).

In 2013, CHED’s decision to remove Filipino subjects in college and integrate them in

the K-12 curriculum caused a stir among the academe. The Supreme Court even had to raise a

TRO against the decision (Emocling, 2017).

Filipino will no longer be part of the GEC by 2016 and that the teaching of Filipino at the

college level will be limited to Filipino majors and Education students major in Filipino

(Gabayoyo, 2015). In this new educational policy regime, Filipino will be removed at the tertiary

level, even as Higher Educations Institutions (HEIs) have the option of teaching the GE courses,

or some of them, using Filipino as a medium of instruction. One should however take note that

this is just an option, and not mandatory (Contreras, 2014).

Based on the evaluation of Emocling (2017), revealed that there are still a lot of Filipinos

who do not know Balarila or Filipino grammatical rules. Moreover, it was supported by

Contreras (2014) that many of our younger generations do not know how to count in Filipino,

and would understand “one hundred” but not “isang daan.” While this may be the failure of how

Filipino is taught in basic education, it does not negate the fact that we do really have a big

problem when the manner our national language is taught is itself problematic. Indeed, the fault
may also lie in many unimaginative and ill-prepared Filipino teachers. But then again, this is

symptomatic of the level of attention and support the educational system gave the teaching of

Filipino. After all, Filipino was just taught as a course, and as a medium for instruction in some

subject areas, but not as the medium upon which all forms of knowledge will be engaged by the

students.

Being globally competitive is being able to communicate efficiently in languages

(Padilla, 2011). Filipino subject is very important to all of us especially that we can call it as our

own language. Let us open our minds for the possible impact of removing this in the colleges and

universities. This subject gave us various recognitions internationally and has given us the power

to be united and share common bonds as Filipino people (Gabayoyo, 2015).

Filipino is widely spoken in Philippine communities all over the world. Knowing the

local language helps easy interaction and you can save yourself from unnecessary hassles.

Philippines is the one destination of Americans for outsourcing their jobs so Filipino language

has got a position in American market. As it is very easy and pronounced as spelled, it can be

easily learnt by everyone (Padilla, 2011).

The abolition of Filipino at the tertiary level threatens not only the advances made in its

institutionalization as an academic discipline, but also the political openings for a policy dialogue

towards the strengthening of our national language. It will resurrect the fractious and divisive

debates. Instead of resolving the issues, which is considered as otherwise valid, from the

perspective of a language policy that would respect the process of a healthy dialogue among all

Filipino languages, what is rekindled is the contentious domain of debate that is about to reopen

wounds of division between the Tagalogs and the rest of the archipelago. In this scenario,

Filipino should have been protected. The sad fact is that it wasn’t. One can but cry out loud at
how can some educators of this land who were responsible for crafting such policies, some of

whom even take pride in self-labeling themselves as allies of the Filipino language, could have in

fact become Trojan horsses for its possible demise (Contreras, 2014).
 METHODOLOGY

Time and Place of the Study

The study was conducted during the second semester of the school year 2018-2019 which

covers the month of November, December, January, February, and March. The study was

conducted in Luis Y. Ferrer Jr. Senior High School at Brgy. Pasong Kawayan II, City of General

Trias, Cavite.

Sampling Technique

A total of 50 grade 12 students from academic track, namely, Accountancy and Business

Management, Humanities and Social Sciences, and, General Academic, will be the respondents

of this study. The distribution of respondents is shown in Table 1. Stratified proportional random

sampling will be utilized to collect respondents from the population.

Table 1. Distribution of respondents by strand

Strands Population No. of Sample Percentage

ABM 150 19 38

HUMSS 146 19 38

GAS 98 12 24
Data Collection

In order to gather the information, the questionnaire was used. The questionnaire contains

the demographic reference, perception about the removal of Filipino and Panitikan in tertiary

education, and the academic performance of grade 12 academic students.

Method of Analysis

The researchers will use evaluative method of research to assess the perception of senior

high school students in accordance to removal of Filipino and Panitikan in tertiary education.

Evaluation research is a kind of research that (meaning). Frequency count and percentage will be

used to analyze the demographic profile of the grade 12 academic students. On the other hand,

mean will be utilized to analyze the perception of senior high school students about the removal

of Filipino and Panitikan in tertiary education.

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter discusses the demographic profile of the respondents and their perception

with regards to the removal of Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary education.

Demographic Profile of the Respondents

The demographic profile includes age, gender, strand and their grade in Filipino during

junior high school.

Age. Out of 50 respondents, 25 of them are 18 years old. On the other hand, 19 of the

respondents belong to the group of 17 years old. The remaining 5 and 1 belong to 19 and 16

years old, respectively.

Gender. The 39 respondents are female while the remaining 11 are male respondents.

Strand. The Humanities and Social Sciences and Accountancy and Business

Management got 19 respondents while the remaining 12 belongs to General Academic.

Grades in Filipino. The majority of the respondents, 22 students, has the grade in

Filipino ranging from 86 to 91. On the other hand, 16 respondents have a grade of 92 to 97. Then

the remaining 12 respondents have a grade of 80% to 85%.

Frequency Percentage
Age
16 1 2
17 19 38
18 25 50
19 5 10
Gender
Male 11 22
 Female 39 78
Strand
Humanities and Social 19 38
Sciences
Accountancy and Business 19 38
Management
General Academic 12 24
Grades in Filipino
80 to 85 12 24
86 to 91 22 44
92 to 97 16 32
Table 2. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

Perception of the Senior High School Students about the Removal of Filipino at Panitikang

Pilipino

This part of the paper discusses the perception of grade 12 academic students about the

removal of Filipino and Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary education.

The finding reveals that students strongly agree that the Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino

can build a strong foundation for being a Filipino with a total mean of 3.60. Moreover, they also

strongly agreed that this subject in tertiary education depicts the identity of every Filipino which

has a total mean of 3.30. In addition, Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino helps the students in learning

the other discipline. It has a total mean of 3.26 and a verbal description of strongly agree.

On the other hand, the respondents disagree that Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino should

only be taught in junior high school with an average of 2.12. They also disagreed to the

following statements: The new curriculum, without the Filipino at Panitikan, is more improved

and useful for the learning of college students; Students should try other curriculum in tertiary

college without Filipino at Panitikan; Filipino at Panitikan should be removed in the core

subjects because it is very easy to learn as a Filipino; The removal of the Filipino at Panitikan

helps us to be globally competitive; and, Filipino at Panitikan negatively affects the focus of the
students in their particular courses. These statements have total mean of 2.12, 2.10, 2.00, 1.97,

1.86, and 1.86, respectively.

However, the respondents strongly disagree that Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino has no

significant contribution to the curriculum of tertiary education with a mean of 1.60.

Statements Mean Verbal Description

Filipino at Panitikan can build a strong foundation for 3.60 Strongly Agree
being a Filipino.
Filipino at Panitikan depicts the identity of every 3.30 Strongly Agree
Filipino.
Filipino at Panitikan will always help us in learning 3.26 Strongly Agree
the other disciplines.
The removal of the Filipino at Panitikan helps us to 1.86 Disagree
be globally competitive.
Filipino at Panitikan negatively affects the focus of 1.86 Disagree
the students in their particular courses.
Filipino at Panitikan should be taught in primary and 2.12 Disagree
secondary education only.
We should try other curriculum in tertiary college 2.00 Disagree
without Filipino at Panitikan.
The new curriculum, without the Filipino at 2.10 Disagree
Panitikan, is more improved and useful for the
learning of college students.
Filipino at Panitikan should be removed in the core 1.90 Disagree
subjects because it is very easy to learn as a Filipino.
Filipino at Panitikan has no significant contribution 1.60 Strongly Disagree
on the former curriculum.
Table 3. Perception of Senior High School Students about the Removal of Filipino and
Pa\nitikang Pilipino in Tertiary Education

Summary

The majority of the respondents are 18 years old and they are female. Most of these

respondents belong to Humanities and Social Sciences and Accountancy and Business

Management strand. Forty-four per cent of the respondents have an average grade in Filipino

during junior high school ranging from 86 to 91. The respondents strongly agreed that the
Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino is one of the tools in building a strong foundation of being a

Filipino.

Conclusion

Given the data, fifty percent of the respondents are 18 years old while two per cent of the

total respondents are 16 years old. Most of them are female which contain the 78% of the

respondents while the remaining 22% are male. The respondents belong to academic track, 76%

of the respondents came from Humanities and Social Sciences and Accountancy and Business

Management while the other 24% came from General Academic. Majority of the respondents,

44%, has an average grade in Filipino during junior high school ranging from 86 to 91 while few

of them, 24%, has an average grade ranging from 80 to 85.

The perceptions of grade 12 academic students about the removal of Filipino at

Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary education are being evaluated. The respondents strongly agreed

that Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino is essential in building a strong foundation of being a Filipino.

Moreover, they strongly disagreed that Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino had no significant

contribution on the former curriculum. This only means that the removal of Filipino at

Panitikang Pilipino in tertiary education is not favored by most of the students, especially those

students from academic track that will take tertiary education.

Recommendation

With the given data that are presented on the former pages, the researchers would like to

suggest that the K-12 curriculum will increase the level of awareness of the students about the

importance of Filipino in the curriculum. Moreover, teachers can generate ideas on how to

emphasize the role of Filipino in one’s identity. For the Commission on high Education, the
researchers would like suggest that they should think on alternative ways to lessen the tasks for

thee college students instead of removing the Filipino at Panitikang Pilipino in the curriculum.

Lastly, the researchers would like to suggest for the future researchers to include the students

from Technical –Vocational Track as their respondents.

APPENDICES
Bibiliography

Contreras, A. (2014). Do You See What I See? Understanding Filipino Elderly’s Needs,

Benefits, and Expectations from an Adult Continuing Education Program. Retrieved from:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03601277.2012.700810

Emocling, O. (2017). Why Is It Important to Study Filipino Even In College? Retrieved from:

http://nolisoli.ph/16196/filipino-college-ched/

Gabayoyo, A. (2015). Filipino: The Subject for All. Retrieved from:

https://thedailyguardian.net/community-news/filipino-the-subject-for-all/

Padilla, C. (2011). Filipino Language: Advantages When You Know It. Retrieved from:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Filipino-Language---Advantages-When-You-Know-It&id=6096153

Robas, R. (2016). The Filipino Language and Culture. Retrieved from:

https://rjorobas.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/the-filipino-language-and-culture/
 Republic of the Philippines
Region IV-A (CALABARZON)
CITY SCHOOLS DIVISION OF GENERAL TRIAS
General Trias City, Cavite
Department of Education
LUIS Y. FERRER JR. SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Am I A Filipino? The Perception of Senior High School Students about the Removal of
Filipino and Panitikan in Tertiary Education
Name (optional):____________________Strand:____________________
Gender:___________ Age:__________
Grade in Filipino (JHS): ___________

Direction: The following statements will assess your perception about the removal of Filipino
and Panitikan in tertiary education.
4 – Strongly Agree
3 – Agree
2 – Disagree
1 – Strongly Disagree

1 2 3 4
1. Filipino at Panitikan can build a strong foundation
for being a Filipino.
2. Filipino at Panitikan depicts the identity of every
Filipino.
3. Filipino at Panitikan will always help us in learning
the other disciplines.
4. The removal of the Filipino at Panitikan helps us to
be globally competitive.
5. Filipino at Panitikan negatively affects the focus of
the students in their particular courses.
6. Filipino at Panitikan should be taught in primary
and secondary education only.
7. We should try other curriculum in tertiary college
without Filipino at Panitikan.
8. The new curriculum, without the Filipino at
Panitikan, is more improved and useful for the
learning of college students.
9. Filipino at Panitikan should be removed in the core
subjects because it is very easy to learn as a
Filipino.
10. Filipino at Panitikan has no significant contribution
on the former curriculum.