The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) facilitated a press conference with the local media in Iloilo to disseminate information on Indigenous Languages and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), held at the Office of Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (OICA) Conference Room, UPV Iloilo City campus, on Feb. 21.
Media members from the print and radio asked key officials and guests of the three-day 2023 Conference-Workshop on Indigenous Languages and Sustainable Development Goals hosted by UPV in Iloilo City.
Their questions ranged from details of the conference, updates on the use of Mother Tongue – Based Multilingual Education, the Filipino Sign Language, SDGs, and the impact of House Bill No. 6717, among others. MTB MLE experts are opposing the House Bill, which seeks to suspend the implementation of Section 4 of Republic Act No. 10533, also known as the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.”
Members of the panel included key officials of conference partners, namely Mr. Ricardo Nolasco, Filipino linguist and overall conference chair; Secretary General Ivan Anthony Henares of the Philippine National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes; and Dr. Gregorio E.H. Del Pilar, immediate past President of the National Research Council of the Philippines.
The panel likewise included Senior Deaf Advocacy Officer Patrick Bryan Ablaza of the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) – Yunit ng FSL; Ms. Carolyn Dagani, Philippine Federation of the Deaf President and Project Lead for Inclusion, Climate Resilience of the Deaf: Signs for Inclusive Governance and Development, with researcher Mr. Rommel Agravante; Filipino Sign Language National Network Convenor Liza Martinez; and Sherielyn Pardo of the Tri-Deaf People Association of Cotabato and Maguindanao.
The press conference took place during the sidelines of the opening day of the conference which serves as a platform for key stakeholders to begin the process of a strategic national response to the Four Outcomes envisioned in the Global Action Plan of the International Decade on Indigenous Languages 2022-2032 (IDIL), in alignment to the SDGs, and the various national, regional, sectoral and agency, and local development goals.
