Why should we bring back Baybayin?
Baybayin, meaning “to spell it out,” is one of the ancient scripts surviving from pre-colonial Philippines. Its syllabic nature makes it useful for transcribing many native languages, which is why historians have pointed out that Baybayin was in use among both Tagalog speakers and speakers of some Visayan languages.
It is not the only Indigenous Philippine script, but it is a popular one.
Expressing our Filipino-ness with Baybayin
Until I was in high school in the late 2000s, Baybayin was still mistakenly called “Alibata,” which is a made-up word from the early 20th century. (To be fair, all words are made up, but that is a topic for another time.)
We have been seeing a fluctuating trend in the modern revival of Baybayin—many artists, especially calligraphers and tattoo artists, for example, have been doing great work in promoting this ancient script. Some business owners have even applied it in their logos, perhaps to make their businesses seem more ethnic.
There have been efforts to integrate Baybayin in education, such as the proposed “Philippine Indigenous and Traditional Writing Systems Act.” That’s because much of our current education system is still modeled after Western standards, which do not always match Filipino realities.
That said, some believe that introducing Baybayin in schools can foster a sense of pride for our nation.
Many people also use Baybayin to express their Filipino-ness. We compare ourselves with other countries that proudly use their native scripts in government forms, street signs, etc. Seeing Baybayin wherever we go can be a great sign that whoever wrote it may have Filipino roots.
So, should we give Baybayin more attention today?
Baybayin for nationalism
If our reason for reviving Baybayin is simply to enshrine it as the “national script” of the Philippines, then it may be somewhat forced. If Baybayin were imposed onto a multi-ethnic archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, around 200 languages, and more than 100 million people, we would also risk erasing or marginalizing many other languages and scripts.
Of course, it is still good to preserve it and let it grow—alongside other Philippine Indigenous scripts. After all, the reason why other countries use their native scripts everywhere is that their scripts evolved with their societies.
In fact, the evolution of Baybayin into the script we recognize today was helped along by colonial writers, who added their own flourishes. For example, the pamudpod—or vowel-killer (+)—was introduced by a Spanish friar.
So if we want Baybayin to be useful at all, we must let it evolve alongside our modern usage. Now, how do we even write modern sounds such as “j” (dy, as in dyip) or “ch” (ts, as in tsokolate)?
If we do not let it evolve, then we are really just letting ourselves be stuck in the past. We can honor our ancestors by bringing culture forward—not by regressing to the 16th century.
Baybayin for education
The purpose of language is to communicate with each other. There is even a theory about consciousness that human beings only evolved to be conscious when we learned to use language to describe inner feelings and intentions, and to distinguish “I” from “you” and “them.”
Baybayin cannot just be a signal of Filipino-ness. If so, then it is just a costume. There is more to being Filipino than just using Baybayin, but we cannot stop at just displaying Baybayin symbols.
Baybayin can be useful in education, especially in teaching Tagalog to children. After all, it is perfectly suited to the language. Whenever I read books in Tagalog, it feels tighter and more dense than if I were reading the same size of font in English. But written in Baybayin, Tagalog flows beautifully, like the gentle curls of ocean waves.
The point is both aesthetic and practical. Saying something like “bahala na” takes more characters than its Baybayin counterpart, ᜊᜑᜎ ᜈ. Baybayin follows the way we speak.
Baybayin for today
If political will pushes Baybayin as the national script of the Philippines, I pray that the same care and mainstreaming will be done for other Indigenous scripts. In fact, we do not have to wait—we must preserve and promote them now.
If we want Baybayin to be more mainstream, we must use it more frequently and allow it to evolve. It cannot remain merely a relic of some sacred past. We honor our ancestors by bringing Baybayin to modern life, using it boldly and creatively.
Many scholars have even pointed out its potential for philosophical reflection. During the Spanish colonial era, Pedro Paterno reflected on the mystical meaning of Baybayin symbols. National Artist Guillermo Tolentino, who was also an espiritista, was an advocate for the mystical uses of Baybayin. He wrote in the 1970s about the magical meanings of each symbol.
Psychospiritual researcher Teresita Obusan even introduced the “ka” method in doing research on Indigenous religions, where ka is symbolized in Baybayin as two wavy lines connected by a line. She called this “Pamamaraang ka.”
For her, the wavy line, meaning “ha,” also means hangin or hininga, which is the soul. When a person dies, we say, “Nalagot ang kaniyang hininga.” Even the word ginhawa, which we now use in Filipino psychology to refer to “well-being,” originally means soul or breath. So, for Dr. Obusan, ka was symbolic of that connection of spirits.
Our ancestors probably did not imagine these mystical correspondences when they wrote. In fact, these are modern interpretations. But they are still quite resonant, and they show the potential of Baybayin—not just as a technique for language education or as a tool for nationalism—but also as an access point to the depths of our shared soul.
Our kalooban.
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