Will a matter about language catch the attention of the Senate?

The Philippine House of Representatives recently passed a bill, principally authored by Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, that would restore English as medium of instruction in schools. Gullas, like many Filipinos, think this is a step toward reviving a moribund educational system.

But such elation may be shortlived. Since the bill now goes to the Senate for approval, that elation may as well give way to cold sweat and a queasy stomach. For the Senate is not exactly the right place to look for wisdom and discernment.

All that the Philippine Senate has managed to do all these years is mount endless probes into even the most mundane of things, making Filipinos wonder if what is readily plain and easily discernible to most people just seems to escape the sense of enlightenment of senators.

There is justifiable reason to doubt whether the Senate would even notice the bill considering its preoccupation with other things and whether, if at all, it will treat it with a sense of urgency long enough before it gets distracted again by its urge for endless probes.

And even if it does allow itself a quick look, it still remains to be seen whether the matter of speaking correct and proper English would go far in a chamber that counts among its members a good number who in fact speak carabao English.

As had been correctly pointed out by some quarters, if there is a way that restoring English as medium of instruction in schools can be done by executive order, then by God let us go ahead and do it.

The Philippines used to enjoy the distinct advantage of having a work force that was the envy of most developing countries for its proficiency in the English language. Filipinos not only worked hard, they also spoke English well.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, officials with a twisted sense of patriotism decided to do away with English as medium of instruction in schools. They felt having Filipinos speak Tagalog will make them more patriotic citizens. They could not have been more wrong.

One of the first things the first real beneficiary of such a twisted notion of patriotism did was to allegedly enrich himself in office. This Tagalog movie actor was eventually ousted. Another Tagalog movie actor tried to follow suit. But the Filipinos caught on and rejected him.

Nevertheless, these carabao English speakers can still be rejected at the polls. What is more worrisome, because of the permanent damage it can bring, is the ramming of Tagalog down the throats of all Filipinos, two-thirds of whom in fact do not speak the language.

This has led to the crash in the quality of Philippine education. While Filipino students used to stand shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts in the West and can be a head over most others in Asia, the introduction of Tagalog led to the idiotization of Filipinos.

The use of Tagalog plus the low regard and wrong priorities with which the government has chosen to deal with education in the country has forced the Philippines to abandon its lofty position as a respected and dependable source of world-class human assets.

To this day, young people from other Asian countries may still come to learn English from us, but this is just scraping the barrel that was once full. A Philippines that was second only to Japan just 30 or 40 years ago is not even a memory to Filipinos half of whom are below 25.

Most young Filipinos today are already products of an education system that has been raped by officials for political purposes. Even if the Senate comes to its senses and passes the English restoration bill, it will take another 40 years to recover what we stupidly threw away.