Deafness in the Philippines

The Filipino Sign Language (FSL) is the official language of education for deaf Filipinos, which number around 121,000 as of 2000.
The first incidence of sign language emergence was documented in 1604. During this time, a hearing priest used gestures to explain religious practices and the concept of God to two deaf Filipinos. After this incident, the two deaf Filipinos spread their new knowledge to their religious groups. After 1604, there is little history of documented Filipino Sign Language (FSL) until 1907.
During this time, the United States of America had colonized the Philippines, and the American colonists built the School for the Deaf and Blind in 1907. Miss Delight Rice was invited to teach the Deaf students at the school. She noted having to persuade Filipino parents to let their children be educated. She recalled that the parents were ashamed of their deaf children, and she had to persuade the parents that all children were deserving of an education. While at the School for the Deaf and Blind, deaf students who knew sign language were taught American Sign Language (ASL). They were taught the ASL alphabet, which is identical to the current FSL alphabet. In school, students were also taught Signing Exact English (SEE).
Both languages utilize the same Latin alphabet system, and most of the letters are fingerspelled the same in ASL and FSL, but there are a few key differences. The letters E, T, and G are signed with slightly different hand shapes in ASL and FSL. While E and G are signed differently for genetic reasons, the letter T is signed differently for cultural reasons. Besides the minor letter discrepancies, FSL and ASL differ in some vocabulary words, some classifier and grammatical features, and some syntactical modification processes. There are also regional variations between cities and islands of the Philippines.
The Philippine Federation of the Deaf (PFD) is a non-profit organization whose goals include preserving FSL, encouraging Deaf identities, representing Deaf Filipinos in global settings, and aiding the development of grassroots organizations. They were founded in 1997. They are a member of the World Federation for the Deaf (WFD) and have collaborated with the Philippine Deaf Resource Center (PDRC) to conduct studies on justice equality for Deaf Filipinos. PFD has also collaborated with other empowerment organizations such as Discovering Deaf Worlds (DDW). Their promoted project (USAID Expand Program) on their website trains organizations in management skills, forwarding the member organizations' independence in educating and advocating for their members.
The Philippine Deaf Resource Center (PDRC) was founded in 2001. Their main focus is research in the Filipino Sign Language field and how Deafness affects socio-economic standing. They also provide resources for Deaf people and their families and friends, especially telecommunication technology. In 2009, the PDRC created an online corporus for Philippine languages, which included resources, such as religious texts and artistic prose and poems, for the four most common spoken languages (Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, and Hiligaynon) as well as the most common sign language, FSL. This online corporus of Philippine languages is available online on PALITO; it is unknown whether PALITO is available for the public or only researchers.
The International Deaf Education Association (IDEA) focus on vocational and missionary education for Deaf children on the islands of Bohol and Leyte. In 1991, IDEA was established in the Philippines as a non-profit organization. The only options for support from people across the world are donating to the organization, by sponsoring a child, sponsoring a teacher, or donating straight to the Digital Learning Fund or to the organization as a whole.
Discovering Deaf Worlds (DDW) provides education, encourages advocacy, aims to expand Deaf people's role in society, and building community development skills for Deaf Filipinos. In their past projects, they've focused on finding Deaf Costa Rican advocates to speak out for their Deaf community, giving Indian Deaf Disabled children a chance at new life, and implementing leadership and community building skills in several Indian cities. They also worked with PFD to demand that FSL be declared the national sign language of the Philippines.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was crafted by the United Nations (UN) in 2006 and was effective after 2008. Before the document became effective, the Philippines signed the CRPD in 2007 and ratified it in 2008.
In 2014, the UN released the "List of issues in relation to the initial report of the Philippines." In 2013, the Philippine Coalition on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities wrote "A Parallel Report submitted to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the implementation of the Convention in the Republic of the Philippines from 2008-2013. Here is the list of Deaf-related facets from the report in 2013 and 2014:
In 2018, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities released the "Concluding observations on the initial report of the Philippines." Here is the list of Deaf-related facets from the report in 2018:
There was also high concern about the lack of a national sign language. This was ameliorated by the passing of legislation RA 11106 in mid-2018, which recognized FSL as the national sign language. This legislation ensured that government transactions are translated into FSL for all, promoted a collaboration for a standard national curriculum in deaf education, encouraged the utilization of Deaf teachers in Deaf education, created a rigorous sign language interpreter training program to ensure adequate interpretation, and enforced the use of FSL in the workplace, judicial settings, hospitals, public transportation settings, and media.
Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) is shown to decrease the language delay and language deprivation that is common with deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. In 2007, the Philippine government started a task force for Newborn Hearing Screening. In 2009, the Philippine government passed the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act with RA9709. In terms of implementation, otoacoustic emission (OAE) and automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) are the recommended testing methods for newborns in the Philippines.
The RA9709, titled "Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act of 2009," is the current legislation that has provisions for UNHS in the Philippines (with some modifications in 2020). The policies especially significant to UNHS are listed below:
Generally, healthcare workers in the Philippines feel obligated to alert new parents about the hearing screening tests whether they give birth in a hospital, where it's required, or at home, where it's more difficult to implement. However, there are still limitations in some provinces and rural areas for access to proper technologies or information dissemination techniques that could be remedied.
Children have the option to buy hearing aids or cochlear implants. Hearing aids can cost anywhere between 35,000 and 280,000 Philippine pesos, while cochlear implants can cost up to 1,200,000 Philippine pesos. The Philippine Department of Education also offers Special Education (SPED) programs in all public schools for children with disabilities. These programs are overseen by the National Council on Disability Affairs. Deaf children are provided with access to sign language in their education in the SPED programs of mainstream schools. Many SPED teachers utilize a bilingual approach, teaching students American Sign Language.
The Republic Act No. 7277 promotes adequate education for disabled people in the Philippines. This act declares, among other things:
Starting off as the CAP College Foundation, the CAP College School for the Deaf prioritizes developing employment skills, advocating for the Deaf community, self-reliance and independence, and improving the socio-economic status of Deaf people.
They offer degrees in:
The DLS-College of St. Benilde prioritizes catholic heritage, societal service, and accessibility to education.
They offer multiple undergraduate programs, including:
Previously known as Cebu State College of Science and Technology, Cebu Technological University has nine satellite campuses in Argao, Babag, Barili, Carmen, Daanbantayan, Danao City, San Francisco, Maolboal, and Tuburan. There are also thirteen extension campuses in Balamban, Bantayan, Dumanjug, Ginatilan, Malabuyoc, Naga, Oslob, Pinamungahan, Samboan, San Fernando, San Remigio, Tabogon, and Tabuelan.
Their main campus in Cebu City has multiple undergraduate programs, including:
Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf College of Technology prioritizes computer technical training, sign languages, Christian values, recreational activities, and job assistance.
They offer classes in-person and online in the following programs:
The Republic Act No. 7277 enacts the following health policies:
Deaf Filipinos are more likely to experience sexual assault than any other types of disparity. There has also been a call for more accurate research to decrease the number of sexual assaults. Deaf Filipinos are also less likely to be able to report any type of assault, because the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) considers interpreters a third party, which is classified as hearsay.
Filipinos of all age groups are also more likely to be affected by deafness than higher income countries. Filipinos were also found to have higher incidence of more profound deafness.
The Philippines is known as one of the most disaster-prone nations in the globe, experiencing 8-9 tropical cyclones throughout the summer Deaf Filipinos are also more likely to die in disaster situations than their hearing counterparts. They are unable to speak with emergency medical services provided in the country, and there does not seem to be an emergency medical service specifically for Deaf Filipinos.
The Republic Act No. 7277, passed in 1992, enacts the following employment and vocational policies in place:
While the RA 7277 protects against discrimination and encourages equal opportunity of Deaf people, the estimated daily income of Deaf Filipinos was around P35.00 and P60.00. In comparison, the estimated daily income of hearing Filipinos at the same time was around P290.73.
Most Deaf Filipinos have blue-collar jobs like garbage scavengers, vendors, sewers (dressmakers), manicurists, masseuses, farmers, jeep barkers, pedicab drivers, carpenters, electricians, or umbrella repairers. Likewise, the National Vocational Rehabilitation Center provides free training for Deaf people in classes like hairdressing, cosmetology, massage, sewing, food processing, computer literacy, and electronics. In order to get high-level white-collar jobs, Filipinos must pass a Civil Service Examination. This exam is written in Filipino, while Deaf education primarily consists of FSL and English.
Filipino Sign Language has a mid-sized population, with about 121,000 Deaf native speakers. It is also considered to be a stable language, because FSL is not the primary language used in most educational institutions or workplaces. However, it is used as the primary language in Deaf schools and programs, supplemented by written English. FSL ranks between a 5-6a on the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS) scale.
There are many factors that contribute to the preservation of a language, including documentation, instruction to children and adults, cultural awareness, and national recognition. Here are the Philippines' resources for each factor: