When the Spanish colonizers arrived, their Christianization project began by destroying the very foundation of our indigenous faith. They broke the Anitos. They silenced the chants. They erased every ritual that didn’t serve the cross. What was once sacred became feared. What was once power became persecution.

Colonizers didn’t understand that. In... See more

Language fluency is activism. This is not about reclaiming purity, but embracing pluralism and contradiction. We reject colonial amnesia through language learning, even informally.

We need to challenge the idea that English is the sole marker of intelligence or modernity. This belief traces back to Rizal’s time and persists even in media, like in the Maria Clara at Ibarra Netflix series. The shock when a woman speaks fluent English reflects a deeper social bias, that English equals higher status.

This bias runs deep. English... See more

They aren’t dead. Just silenced.

Abinales and Amoroso, in their 2005 work State and Society in the Philippines

They channeled energy from nature, the stars, the trees, the spirits that moved through the wind and water. It was animistic, yes, but also intuitive and ancient. Babaylans used their gifts to heal sickness, protect the pregnant, and ward off disease.

Language and ritual aren’t missing pieces of identity. They are tools of agency. We shouldn’t just be fluent in grammar, but also in memory.

Teach each other. Love the language, the history, the culture.

Memory isn’t only academic. It shouldn’t be reduced to a school requirement or a shallow trend. It should be embodied, oral, and alive.

The real problem is not just forgetfulness, but erasure: Filipinos remember colonization more clearly than their own precolonial selves, a habit reinforced by institutions that privilege the conquerors’ stories over our own.