page_title: Spanish language in the Philippines
section_title: Filipino nationalism and 19th-century revolutionary governments
hierarchical_section_title: Spanish language in the Philippines / History / Spanish colonial period / Filipino nationalism and 19th-century revolutionary governments
context_page_description: Spanish was the official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish rule in the late 16th century, through the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in 1898 and remained co-official, along with English, until 1987. It was at first removed in 1973 by a constitutional change, but after a few months it was re-designated an official language by presidential decree and remained official until 1987, with the present Constitution re-designating it instead as an "optional and voluntary language".
  It was the language of the Philippine Revolution and the country's first official language, as proclaimed in the Malolos Constitution of the First Philippine Republic in 1899. It was the language of commerce, law, politics and the arts during the colonial period and well into the 20th century. It was the main language of many classical writers and Ilustrados such as Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Antonio Luna and Marcelo del Pilar. It is regulated by the Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española, the main Spanish-language regulating body in the Philippines, and a member of the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, the entity which regulates the Spanish language worldwide.
context_section_description: Before the 19th century, Philippine revolts were small-scale. Since they did not extend beyond linguistic boundaries, they were easily neutralized by Spanish forces. With the small period of the spread of Spanish through a free public school system (1863) and the rise of an educated class, nationalists from different parts of the archipelago were able to communicate in a common language. José Rizal's novels, Graciano López Jaena's satirical articles, Marcelo H. del Pilar's anti-clerical manifestos, the bi-weekly La Solidaridad, which was published in Spain, and other materials in awakening nationalism were written in Spanish. The Philippine Revolution fought for reforms and later for independence from Spain. However, it opposed neither Spain's cultural legacy in the islands nor the Spanish language. Even Graciano López Jaena's La Solidaridad, an 1889 article that praised the young women of Malolos who petitioned to Governor-General Valeriano Weyler to open a night school to teach the Spanish language. In fact, the Malolos Congress of 1899 chose Spanish as the official language. According to Horacio de la Costa, nationalism would not have been possible without the Spanish language. By then, the people were increasingly aware of nationalistic ideas and independence movements in other countries.
  Spanish was used by the first Filipino patriots like José Rizal, Andrés Bonifacio, and, to a lesser extent, Emilio Aguinaldo. The 1896 Biak-na-Bato Constitution and the 1898 Malolos Constitution were both written in Spanish. Neither specified a national language, but both recognised the continuing use of Spanish in Philippine life and legislation. Aguinaldo was more comfortable speaking Tagalog. Spanish was used to write the Constitution of Biak-na-Bato, Malolos Constitution, the original national anthem, Himno Nacional Filipino, as well as nationalistic propaganda material and literature.
  The country's first two constitutions and historic novels were written in Spanish. While widely understood by the majority of the population, Spanish was the unifying language since Tagalog was not as prominent or ubiquitous as it is today, and each region had its own culture and language and would rather speak in their local languages. Before the spread of Filipino nationalism, the natives of each region still thought of themselves as Ilocano, Cebuano, Bicolano, Waray, Tagalog etc., not as Filipinos.
  The term "Filipino" originally referred to the natives of the Philippines themselves. It was Pedro Chirino, a Spanish Jesuit, who first called the natives Filipinos in his book Relación de las Islas Filipinas (Rome, 1604). However, during their 333-year rule of the Philippines, the Spanish rulers preferred to call the natives Indios.
  Also during the colonial era, the Spaniards born in the Philippines, who were more known as "insulares", "criollos," or "Creoles," were also called "Filipinos." Spaniards born in Spain or mainland Spaniards residing in the Philippines were referred to as "peninsulares". Peoples born in Spanish America or in the North American continent of New Spain who were residing in the Philippines were collectively referred to as "Americanos." The Catholic Austronesian peoples of the Philippines were referred to as "Indios" and those who practiced the Islamic faith were called "Moros". The indigenous Aetas were referred to as "Negritos". Chinese settlers were called "Sangleyes."  "Japanese settlers were called "Japoneses]]." Those of mixed ancestry were referred to as "Mestizos" or "Tornatrás." In the 1800s, the term "Filipino" gradually became synonymous to anyone born in the Philippines, regardless of ethnicity, by an effort of the "Insulares" from whom Filipino nationalism began.
  In 1863, the Spanish language was taught freely when a primary public school system was set up for the entire population. The Spanish-speaking Ilustrados (Enlightened Ones), which included the Insulares, the Indios, the Mestizos, the Tornatrás etc., were the educated elite who promoted and propagated nationalism and a modern Filipino consciousness. The Il
caption: Propaganda in Spanish
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