MANILA, Philippines — A professor from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) has developed an educational board game designed to teach high school and college students about the country’s native languages.
UPLB assistant professor of Communication Arts Mariyel Hiyas Liwanag was awarded P100,000 by the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) as the recipient of the Gawad Julian Cruz Balmaseda 2025 for her dissertation, “Isabuhay: Isang Larong Disenyo para sa Diskurso ng mga Wikang Filipino.”
Isabuhay, Liwanag explained, started as a “passion project” with the goal of presenting discussions on native Filipino languages in a format that would capture the interest of high school and college students – via game studies.
She revealed in an interview that she conceptualized the project for seven years and refined it through play tests with students.
Currently, Liwanag is working on securing the board game’s copyright under UPLB.
She envisions an open-access model where teachers can download and print the game, including its board and accessories, and use it to teach around 180 native Filipino languages to their respective students.
Designed for four players per team, Isabuhay assigns roles such as teacher, researcher, agency representative and language promoter, each contributing specific skills to advance in the game and complete the shared mission of “saving native languages from extinction.”
Players draw cards based on the history of native languages in the country, including the impact of mining and migration, which have caused the displacement of communities and the decline of language vitality, as well as contemporary language issues such as bilingual education policies and linguistic human rights.
Aside from Liwanag, Kristine Mae Nares of Bicol University was also recognized as a KWF Gawad Julian Cruz Balmaseda 2025 awardee for her masteral thesis, “Pagmamapa ng Kalinangang Bayan ng Munisipalidad ng Guinobatan, Albay,” which granted her a P100,000 prize.