BY ERLINDA T. YUTUC (PIO)
Preparations for the annual celebration of Aldo ning Amanung Sisuan (meaning “mother tongue” in Kapampangan) from August 26 to 28 in Pampanga are now in full swing.
This developed as Governor Lilia G. Pineda assured the members of the Pampanga Language Council (PLC), the celebration’s lead organizers, of the provincial government’s full support and commitment to the conduct of various activities for the said event.
In 2008, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan passed Resolution No. 1193 declaring the last Fridays of August as Aldo ning Amanung Sisuan and creating the PLC which shall spearhead initiatives in saving and promoting the Kapampangan language.
Chaired by Erlinda Cruz, the PLC has lined-up various activities designed to promote public awareness, consciousness and appreciation of the Kapampangan language and its rich heritage.
“We lined-up activities for a three-day celebration to further drumbeat our advocacy on the promotion and preservation of our language and rekindle the public’s passion and love for Kapampangan,” Cruz said.
She said that the PLC is composed of the governor as the honorary chairman, Board Member Edna David as vice-chairman and members such as the Angeles University Foundation (AUF),University of the Assumption (UA), Holy Angel University (HAU), Republic Central Colleges (RCC), local organizations like the Aguman Buklod Kapampangan (ABK), ABK-Bagong Suli, Aguman Akademya Ning Amanung Sisuan International (ANASI), Aguman Talasulat Kapampangan (AGTAKA), Defenders of Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago (DILA), ASLAG and AKKAP, one of the oldest groups in the province.
The celebration, according to Cruz, will kick off with a lecture seminar for public and private school teachers in the province on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Order No. 74 which pertains to mother tongue-based multi-lingual education.
“The teachers play a very important role in the spread of Kapampangan language and its use as an effective bridge to learning,” Cruz added.
Aside from the targeted 100 teachers in the province, some college students taking up education course have also been invited to participate in the said lecture as they too would eventually become effective partners in the said advocacy.
To be held at the Benigno Aquino, Jr. Memorial Hall at the capitol compound, the lecture will feature Dr. Anicia del Corro, a Kapampangan linguistic expert; Dr. Rosalinda Luna, DepEd division superintendent; Lord Francis Musni, Center for Kapampangan Studies (CKS) HAU consultant; and Cruz herself as resource persons.
Cruz mentioned that two Polosa competitions among elementary pupils and out-of-school youth will be conducted on the second day of the celebration at the same venue.
She said that the highlights of the celebration will be held on August 28 at the HAU in Angeles City with the launching of two poetry books entitled “Kasapunggul a Sampaga Volume 2” and “Kawatasan: Obrang Poeta Laureado”, works of ANASI and other Pampanga-based poets.
“The governor will be the guest of honor in the said book launching event which shall be followed by the coronation of five new poets laureate,” Cruz said.
Aside from the provincial government and the PLC, these two culminating activities are co-sponsored by the HAU and the Parnasung Kapampangan.
Adding that the PLC advocacy on the promotion of the language would be a continuing activity in the province, Cruz said that the council is very appreciative of the governor’s expressed support and commitment to the implementation of its various activities.
