MANILA - With deliberate golden strokes, artist Taipan Lucero proudly brings an ancient script back to life, in the hope of promoting an endangered but contentious part of the Philippines' heritage.
"It's bittersweet. It made me proud knowing our ancestors were literate," said Lucero, who studied calligraphy in Japan but returned home to apply his skills to reviving Baybayin. Many are proficient in English because of the American occupation -- Spain ceded control to the US in 1898 -- and the Philippines only became independent in 1946.
Holiday hotspot Boracay island has already ordered the use of Baybayin in signage, in a bid to counter the proliferation of Chinese characters for tourists. "The Philippine state makes us ashamed of who we are until the Kapampángan people themselves are the ones repressing their own language and culture to become Filipinos ," he said in an e-mail to AFP.
"It won't be a platform for communication," he added, saying lawmakers should instead prioritize improving education infrastructure and teachers' salaries.
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