Hello all! Thanks for sitting down and chatting to me about Visayan literature and language today! The launch of kasing2 is so exciting.
As someone who does not speak any Visayan languages but who is very familiar with the linguistic diversity in the Philippines, something that is always surprising to me – or perhaps not – is the vast amount of people who have no idea how many languages there are within the nation.
Given that you’re all championing Visayan languages on a more global stage, how would you explain the diversity of languages in the Philippines to an outsider?
Noelle Grace “Noey” Pico: I’ve been explaining this to a lot of my friends outside of the Philippines, ‘cause I’ve been on the Internet since 1994. I would be in an mIRC (chat room) with mostly people from the US, some from Europe, and some from Australia. I’ve been in different fandoms; that’s really where I honed my writing chops, within fandom. Where else would you be able to write stories that could feature Filipinos?
I didn’t really delve too deeply into (Hiligaynon) itself, because I did grow up in Manila. I could understand Hiligaynon—I knew when my parents were talking rapid-fire in Hiligaynon—but I was always too scared to speak it, because I couldn’t get the accent right.
But yeah, when I was explaining it to [fandom friends], I said that, like, ‘Well, we’re not a huge landmass like, say, the US, where everyone speaks English.’ But what’s funny is that even when you go from state to state, there are different idioms that are specific to that place. So I used that as a way to explain it.
But a lot of people think that Filipino is just one big language, and there are dialects. I’m like, ‘No.’ A lot of people think that Filipino is just one big language, and there are dialects. I’m like, ‘No.’ Hiligaynon is really a different language. I cannot simply code-switch to Hiligaynon on the fly. There is a lot in my head, like, ‘Is the setting in Tagalog still?’
Samantha Radaza: I grew up in a household where we speak different languages. My grandmother’s side is Chinese, as well as my parents, and my grandfather is part-Spanish. At home, we speak Mandarin. But once we went out, since my grandfather was in the government, we had to speak in the local language. So we had to learn how to speak in Agusanon, which is a Manobo language in Mindanao.
In Mindanao, you can hear different types of Cebuano (Bisaya) too, like the Manobo, B’laan, and Muslim Moro varieties. There are Ilonggos too. It’s a diverse land. I travelled a lot growing up, so I also picked those up. When you talk to other people, there are similar words with different meanings from one place to another, like Ate Noey said. Sometimes, I have to be careful in using a word. My safest thing to do is to shift to a universal language, which is English.
The Philippines is an incredibly linguistically diverse country. It has over 180 languages. I think the bigger portion of that is the Visayan language family. Many outsiders only know Tagalog or Filipino, but many of us speak in Visayan languages. Historically, right, these languages were developed from Austronesian. I noticed that we have a lot of similar words with Malaysia and Indonesia’s languages.
My mum is from Jose Abad Santos (a municipality in Davao Occidental, Philippines). It’s an island at the very border of the Philippines. It’s right across the Marore Island in Indonesia. A lot of Indonesians visit, as well as Chinese people. That’s also why we’re part-Chinese. The Indonesians find it easy to learn Cebuano because of the common words.
The way ‘non-official’ languages are treated can be so varied from country to country.
I’m interested to hear your thoughts on if you feel Visayan languages are growing or dying, and what efforts there are both in the Philippines and diasporically – like with kasing2 – to ensure that it stays alive for upcoming generations?
Nery Joy Ochea: For me, it’s kind of both growing and dying. You see, there are over 30 Visayan languages. However, in our country, English and Tagalog are the mandated languages to speak whether in school, at work, seminars, and many others.
I remember a time when I attended a seminar here in our province, here in Leyte… actually, we are Waray. We speak Waray. But our language was barely spoken in that event. The speaker encouraged us to speak Tagalog and English. He said it was so everyone could fully understand each other.
But as far as I know, here in our province, the use of mother tongue was implemented in primary schools. However, I really don’t see much progress even in our community. Despite the mother tongue policy, I noticed that most of the kids here still don’t know how to speak their own language.
They don’t even understand basic Waray, like for example the word ‘pasawayon.’ A lot of kids in our community don’t know what that means. ‘Pasawayon’ in Waray means ‘badly behaved kid,’ which I think is similar in other Visayan languages.
So I think Visayan languages are both dying and growing. I think the kasing2 magazine could be helpful for the future of Visayan languages. I didn’t really expect that so many people would be interested in joining. I was able to recruit writers from Bohol, from Biliran, from Cebu, from Leyte, from Southern Leyte. For me, it’s cool and exciting. For me, kasing2 will really have a great impact on keeping the Visayan languages alive.
Leanne Hinojales: I agree with Nery Joy that it’s both growing and dying, but I’m learning towards, ‘it is really dying.’ I researched about the mandatory implementation of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) policy in the Philippines. It’s no longer effective starting in the 2025–2026 school year.
Republic Act 12027 was signed in the 2024, which discontinued MTB-MLE. I feel really sad because how can the younger generations preserve their own native languages if we keep pushing them to speak English and Tagalog? Most especially those who teach in public schools, they are mandated to teach in English and Tagalog.
How can we teach the children to preserve their history, their culture, their traditions? How can we teach them to be patriotic in their own country when they are being forced not to speak their own native languages? So I think that it’s sad to hear and see that, and know that the government is the one who mandated that.
However, certain organisations here in the Philippines – one of them is the Bangketa Eskwela (Sidewalk School) Foundation, where I am a volunteer teacher – we go to not just streets, but also different tribes. I recall once, we were helping a certain Aeta tribe with their education, and they taught us their own language. I was really, really impressed. But yeah, if other people can do it, why can’t we just do it ourselves?
Do you think that beyond Grade 3, mother-tongue languages that aren’t Tagalog should be championed more in national education (in The Philippines)?
Leanne: I’m in the teaching profession myself. I think yes, because speaking in mother-tongue languages is, again, a way of preserving our culture, traditions, and history. As a brain development expert, I know that when we don’t use what we learned, we will most likely lose it.
However, this should also be balanced with English. We are living in the 21st century, so we are called to produce globally-competitive students.
DepEd (the Department of Education) tells us that our way of teaching should be in Tagalog and English. But in our school, Evangelical Christian Montessori School, we let the students speak freely in Hiligaynon during their socialisation time. We also help them translate across languages, from Hiligaynon to English then to Tagalog.
What is the reputation of Visayan languages within The Philippines, especially amongst Filipinos who don’t speak any Visayan languages?
Are there any stereotypes (positive or not so positive, totally up to you!) regarding the languages or the speakers?
Noey: I’ve set so much of my life in Manila. Growing up, there was definitely an aspect of class. It wasn’t unheard of that if certain families said ‘kasambahay’ (‘maid’ in Tagalog), most likely the kasambahay would be speaking either Cebuano or Hiligaynon.
There’s also this thing in soap operas where [Visayans] are either comic relief or to show the distinction between the city vs the province. And this one is so common that it feels insidious, almost: if you don’t speak Tagalog, people assume that, ‘Oh, you just prefer English.’
Nery Joy: Many Filipinos’ favourite stereotype is that Waray people are fierce, brave, courageous, something like that. But some people think of it as negative, because they think that Waray people are always into trouble because of how we speak.
Waray is actually very rich and emotional. But yeah, a lot of people who don’t speak the language misinterpret it a bit. But if you learn to speak Waray, you’ll see that it’s poetic, especially in terms of songs and storytelling. Many Waray speakers are actually warm, welcoming, and full of humour.
If you each had to sum up Visayan culture and languages in one sentence, what would it be and why?
Rio Manahon: For me, Visayan culture and languages embody unity, because even though we speak different languages, we come together through art, especially during the Regional Culture and Arts Festival that LGUs (Local Government Units) and universities in Eastern Visayas prepare for.
Samantha: Visayan culture is very festive and very humorous. Also, when you dig into Visayan music, we have very poetic lyrics, like Nery Joy said earlier. We’re deeply communal and our stories travel across generations. We are separated by seas, but we are one.
Nery Joy: For me, to speak Visayan [languages] is to carry the voice of our people and our home.
Leanne: For me, Hiligaynon specifically is… if I would put it in a word, it would be ‘celebrated’ or ‘freedom.’ It marks our freedom against the [colonial] times when we were not allowed to speak our own language.
Noey: I think the Visayan languages are all about depth and breadth. You can’t really put the Visayas in a box; we’re different islands with centuries of trade, moving back and forth, all across. So to say the Visayas is just this one thing, I hesitate to do that.
A Cebuano quote I particularly love is: ‘Dili tanang butang sili nga mohalang dayon‘.
There are many quotes around patience and appreciating the importance of time, but this always feels like one of the most beautifully put.
What are your favourite quotes in your own languages and why, and could you also share your favourite word in each of your own language(s) too?
Leanne: My most favourite [Hiligaynon] phrase is ‘Padayon japun lang ah,’ which means ‘Fight, fight, fight!’ You know? Padayon japun lang ah! You can do it!
Noey: I learned this phrase from my cousin: halong ka. It’s the way we [Ilonggos] say goodbye, and the translation is – Leanne, please back me up – it means ‘to take care.’
Leanne: Yes.
Noey: Yeah. So instead of saying ‘ingat’ [Tagalog equivalent] or something like that, I’ve taken to saying ‘halong ka’ to the people that I love in my life.
Samantha: For me, it would be ‘Layo pa, pero layo na.’ (In Cebuano: ‘You have a long way to go, but you’ve come so far.’) It’s encouraging and very optimistic. I think a lot of people need to hear that phrase more often.
Of course, we’re celebrating the launch of kasing2 (read as ‘kasingkasing’) as well!
What does kasing2 mean and how did you get involved? Can you tease a little about each of your pieces of work that will be appearing in the zine?
Nery Joy: ‘Kasingkasing’ literally means ‘heart’ in some Visayan languages like Cebuano and Waray. For me, it’s the emotional core of the lived experience of Visayan people. I got involved because of Julienne Loreto. But I also wanted to voice out more about Visayan heritage, because most of the time, we have to write in English and Tagalog.
My pieces [in kasing2] are the same as my usual: poems, short stories, so on. I really love writing with metaphors. I wanted to write things that were reflective and deep from my heart.
The magazine accepts everything from micro-fiction to visual art. For me, each piece pulls a fragment from what it’s like to live as a Visayan. We have a lot of people who want to join and contribute. It’s really exciting!
Rio: The heart is the centre of life. For me, it symbolises the centre of Visayan culture, reminding us that every work should come from the kasingkasing. I am a poet, and my forte is writing balak, which is prominent in the Visayas, especially in Biliran.
Samantha: For the longest time, I’ve been planning to do a magazine to feature Visayan authors and artists. But it didn’t happen, ‘cause I couldn’t find the time. Thankfully, Julienne here told me that I can contribute to kasing2. So it’s a very heart-warming opportunity. That’s why I’m hopeful that I can contribute at my best and truly showcase what it means to be Visayan..
Leanne: We are very grateful to Julienne for posting on different platforms and allowing us the opportunity to write something in Visayan History. Moving forward, my work in kasing2 is titled ‘Sais De Noviembre.’ It’s a historical-romance story focusing on how Negros Occidental, most specifically Silay and Bacolod, reached their freedom.
For instance, the practice of selling aceite (oil) and adding the surnames of those people who gave money to Filipino freedom fighters, like ‘Aceite de Manzanilla.’ Also, there are Hiligaynon terms that will surely make Ilonggo people across the world feel at home.
Noey: Like everyone else, I was recruited by our wonderful EIC, Julienne. I was surprised, actually. I just posted a critique of The Pitt (an HBO Max programme that recently featured, and mislabelled, an Ilonggo lullaby) on my website. And I didn’t really expect that anyone would read it.
So when Julienne said, ‘Hey, can I feature that in a zine?’ I dunno, I believe in signs, and it’s so funny ‘cause the launch is on my birthday. So I said, ‘You know what? Go.’ I’m hoping that all of the things that I’ve learned working in the digital marketing space, working with countless other writers, lets me give back to basically… oh my God, it’s so cheesy. But I hope it just lets me give back to the Internet that allowed me to actually talk about how much being Visayan matters to me.
I’d love to hear more about Visayan literature and art. Who are your favourite Visayan artists, writers or creators, and why?
What does Visayan artistic tradition mean to you?
Samantha: For me, it’s gonna be someone who works behind the stages: Sir Jude Gitamondoc. I’ve worked with him for years. He’s an innovative entertainer and songwriter. A lot of his songs are very popular even among the Tagalogs and people outside the Philippines. He’s also been working on Cebuano musicals since 2022. I’ve attended his workshops. I really see a bright future in our arts and music scenes.
Leanne: Number one is Ramon De Los Santos (Ilonggo painter). He created Laro: Echoes of Innocence. They’re paintings embossed on the walls of the museum in Negros Occidental, showcasing Filipino street games. Then, Revo Yanson – he’s also an Ilonggo artist who created masterpieces with pens and paint. His work is lovely because it’s often about nature, and preserving nature, particularly here in the Visayas.
Noey: Merlie M. Alunan (Ilonggo poet), I love her poetry a lot. I’ve loved her words since I was in college, and I’m always on the lookout for more of her collections.
Rio: Even though my grandfather was not a famous mambabalak (poet) in our province, he is my favourite. For me, Visayan artistic tradition is not just a culture that we practise, but an identity that we can share, promote, and be proud of.
Lastly, what messages or thoughts would you like to share with other Visayans, but also to others discovering Visayan languages and cultural traditions for the first time?
Samantha: To my fellow Visayans, I’d like to let them know that we have to uphold our identity. Our languages are a part of who we are. Every time we speak them or share stories in them, we keep them alive. So, hoping that in the next generations, it will not be diminished.
And for those who are discovering the Visayan culture for the first time, our languages carry centuries of stories, humour, resilience… and of course, kasingkasing. Heart. There is so much beauty to be explored.
Noey: For people who are discovering or re-discovering their Visayan heritage, the magazine will hopefully be a good entry point. If any Visayan writers out there want to contribute to kasing2, you definitely should. We’d love to hear your voices.
Other than that, culture is language, it’s culture, it’s food, it’s our music, it’s the arts, it’s re-connecting with places that are actually now being recognised. Like, Negros is being hailed as the ‘Slow Food Nation’ now. We have so many chefs that are making waves. So yeah, if you want to know Visayan culture, you have to immerse in Visayan culture.
Rio: To all Visayans, keep celebrating our rich culture and languages – it’s a big part of who we are.
To those discovering Visayan languages and traditions for the first time, welcome! Dive in, explore, and let’s share stories. Our culture’s got a lot of heart, food, and fun, let’s keep it alive and kicking!
Leanne: For my fellow Visayans, I just want to remind you or us that the Philippines would not be the Philippines without our languages. So let’s speak them proudly, let’s share them proudly.
Also, for those who want to learn Visayan languages and traditions, I would highly recommend that you start listening to our music or reading our literature. That’s why kasing2 was born for that very reason! Not just to showcase our culture, but also to immerse. So I highly recommend that you read kasing2. If you have the means, I’d also recommend visiting us in Cebu, Bacolod, Silay, Leyte, or other parts of the Visayas.
Nery Joy: To all the Visayans – the children, the young adults, please don’t be embarrassed to embrace our languages. Don’t belittle yourself when you go to other places where they don’t speak your language.
To anyone curious about our languages and culture… yeah, I agree with Leanne, which is to explore the Visayan places like Cebu and Leyte. But one of the places I recommend the most is Biliran. It’s a small island that isn’t very known, but the people here are very warm, very welcoming.
Check out kasing2 magazine, which will be launched soon in Carlisle, England this 18 April, or you can check out their website here. Find Noey at @thenoeychu, Samantha at @smnthawsm, Leanne at @avieelysian, Nery Joy at @author_enjay and Rio at @riomanahon99, all on Instagram.
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Thank you! :)))