Executive Order No. 134




[ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 134, December 13, 1937 ] PROCLAMING THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF THE PHILIPPINES BASED ON THE “TAGALOG” LANGUAGE WHEREAS, by virtue of the provisions of Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred eighty-four enacted for the purpose of carrying out the constitutional mandate contained in section three, Article XIII, of the Constitution enjoining the adoption of a national language based upon one of the existing native tongues, the President of the Philippines, on January twelfth, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, appointed the following to constitute the Institute of National Language created under the said Act: Jaime C. de Veyra (Samar-Leyte Visayan), Chairman Santiago A. Fonacier (Ilocano), member. Filemon Sotto (Cebu Visayan), member. Casimero F. Perfecto (Bicol), member. Felix S. Salas Rodriguez (Panay Visayan), member. Hadji Butu (Moro), member. Cecilio Lopez (Tagalog), member and Secretary WHEREAS, the Institute of National Language adopted on the ninth day of November, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, a resolution as follows: “WHEREAS, the National Assembly, in accordance with constitutional mandate, passed Commonwealth Act No. 184 establishing an Institute of National Language; “WHEREAS, the President of the Philippines, in accordance with sections 1 and 2 of said law, appointed on January 12, 1937, the members to compose the Institute who assumed their duties immediately after appointment; “WHEREAS, in fulfillment of the purpose of evolving and adopting a national language based on one of the existing native dialects, and complying with the conditions and proceedings to be observed by the Institute in the discharge of its duties, as set forth in section 5 of said law, the Institute has made studies of Philippine tongues in general; “WHEREAS, in the light of these studies the members of the Institute have come to the conclusion that among the Philippine languages, the Tagalog is the one that most nearly fulfills the requirements of Commonwealth Act No.184; “WHEREAS, this conclusion represents not only the conviction of the members of the Institute but also the opinion of Filipino scholars and patriots of divergent origin and varied education and tendencies who are unanimously in favor of the selection of Tagalog as the basis of the national language as it has been found to be used and accepted by the greatest number of Filipinos not to mention the categorical views expressed by local newspapers, publications, and individual writers; and “WHEREAS, the Constitutional mandate mentioned above may be carried out without detraction from the requirements of section 1, subsection 8 of the Ordinance appended to the Constitution which provides: “The Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines shall established and maintain an adequate system of public schools, primarily conducted in the English language; “Now, therefore, be it resolved, as it is hereby resolved, that the Institute of National Language in harmony and in compliance with section 7 of Commonwealth Act No. 184, select as it hereby selects the Tagalog language to be used as the basis for the evolution and adoption of the national language of the Philippine; “Be it further resolved, that the Institute of National Language recommend to His Excellency, the President of the Philippines, the adoption of Tagalog as the basis of the national language of the Philippines, and that such an adoption of the Philippine National Language shall not be understood as in any way affecting the requirement that the instruction in the public schools shall be primarily conducted in the English language.” Now, therefore, I, MANUEL L. QUEZON, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, pursuant to the provisions of section seven of Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred eighty-four, and upon the recommendation of the Institute of National Language set forth in the resolution above transcribed, do hereby approve the adoption of the Tagalog as the basis of the national language of the Philippines, and hereby declare and proclaim the national language so based on the Tagalog dialect, as the national language of the Philippines. This Order shall take effect two years from the date of its promulgation.ℒαwρhi৷ Done at the City of Manila, this thirtieth day of December, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the third. (Sgd.) MANUEL L. QUEZON President of the Philippines By the President: (Sgd.) ELPIDIO QUIRINO Secretary of the Interior The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation