Filipinos Have a Writing System?

A true little story about a Russian discovering about OUR identity.

As my wrist slid on a slab of glass that is an iPad, my Russian co-worker stopped in front of me and asked what I was doing. “Oh, I’m doing a typographical artwork,” I said, “I’m writing the letter...”

“Letter Y?” He didn’t let me finish, “that’s the letter Y right?”

A giggle was about to come out but I was able to stop it. “It’s the letter A, silly!”

He took the slab of glass and had a good look at it. “No way that’s an A.”

“That’s the A for Baybayin, our writing system.”

He gave it back and I shared the seat with him. “Filipinos have a writing system?” The look on his face speaks everything. It was the face of a man who seemed to discover another missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. A missing piece of world history. It was a familiar look since I started learning Baybayin. “Like those from the Chinese, Arabs, and stuff?”

“Exactly.” I was fascinated for the X amount of times ever since my other foreign workers started discovering this hidden piece.

While it might not interest them in the long run given that it’s just another writing system from another country, I’ll get the same “Huhs,” the same “Hmms,” the same “Wows,” and the same “I didn’t know thats.”

From a Russian, Chinese, Black and White Americans, to Mexicans, Europeans... I always get the same reactions.

I then went on taking my phone out and showed him that the system is also available on some modern keyboards. His response was to take out his phone and showed his local writing system via a keyboard app too which I find funny because it’s the same thing the other “foreigners” did.

I just realized that while it’s fun to introduce and talk about our culture with other foreigners, it’s another level when I talk about our ancient writing system to them. Can we really say that siopaos and siomais are really ours? We only got them from the Chinese right? Can we really say chicharons are ours? A lot of my Mexican co-workers eat chicharons because chicharons were the Spaniards’ idea. Baybayin, however, is ours. It exists way before the European colonization. It’s a piece of evidence that our people can already read and write, that we’re already civilized, that we have officials and leaders or a form of government as written on the Laguna copperplate. Yes, it was written on a copper plate, which shows that we didn’t really relied on leaves and bamboos that much to get our thoughts out there to the world. We had the technology and the smarts to write on copper. Educated. Our ancestors were educated. This is why I’m proud of showing what might be something small to other foreigners since it’s all about our ancient writing system’s vast and mysterious history. ᜊᜊᜌᜒ, along with Kulitan, Tagbanwa, and others are our identity. These are the peak of our culture.

I can now say the words: “Show me your identity and I’ll show mine.”

Jasper Dominic Abibas