Spanish is once again a compulsory subject in the Philippines

On the first day of her visit to Spain, the Philippine President, Gloria Macapagal, announced her commitment that the Spanish language will once again be an obligatory school subject in this Asian country.

Macapagal expressed commitment to promoting the teaching and learning of Spanish, in a speech (almost entirely in this language) during a visit to the Senate.

Spanish was eliminated from the Philippine educational system in 1987 under the government of President Corazón Aquino because the new Constitution, written after the fall of Ferdinand Marco’s regime, established English and Tagalong as the official languages.

More than 5.000 people study Castilian Spanish in the Philippines – half of whom speak it daily. The Philippines has the 9th largest population in Asia with almost 85 million inhabitants. For 350 years, until 1898, it was a Spanish colony.

“An extremely important measure”.

During a Press conference with his Philippine counterpart Alberto Rómulo, The Foreign Affairs Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos said that the measure announced by Macapagal is “extremely important” and it signifies a “hope” that Spanish will return to being very present in this archipelago society.

According to Moratinos, Spain will collaborate with the Philippine government in order to implement this plan by training teachers and sending academic material.

Source: EFE