The optimist's view

Is Chabacano a dying language in Cavite City?

Prof. Emmanuel Luis Romanillos doesn't think so. In his book Chabacano Studies: Essays on Cavite's Chabacano Language and Literature, Romanillos says it won't entirely disappear. "It is still the prevailing language in the privacy of Cavite homes," he points out, and there are still native speakers scattered all over the archipelago and abroad.

That, plus the fact that scholars are writing books on Chabacano, Romanillos among them, is proof that it is here to stay a little longer.

That's an optimistic view, and the professor says so. Others may disagree. But what makes the book valuable and commendable is that it documents Chabacano literature, shines the spotlight on Chabacano poets and writers, and presents interesting facts. For example, the 1995 census found that only 400,000 Filipinos spoke Chabacano as their mother tongue. Of this number, some 300,000 were Zamboangueños while only 34,000 were from Cavite City. The rest were from Ternate, Cotabato and Davao.

Actually, Romanillos says, the numbers have vastly improved from the 1990 census which counted only 292,000 Filipinos who spoke Chabacano as their mother tongue.

Well considering that there are now 84 million Filipinos, the number of Chabacano speakers--whether 292,000 or 400,000--is still a tiny fraction of the population.

At any rate, reading Romanillos will be a worthwhile undertaking. Romanillos, incidentally, is an associate professor at the Department of European Languages of the University of the Philippines. His book was published by the Cavite Historical Society and printed by the Kayumanggi Press. Readers in Metro Manila may inquire at the Kayumanggi Press office (02) 372-5094 if you want to know where you can get hold of copies.