The late National Artist Rolando S. Tinio said that the Philippines can be a house of many languages. PHOTO BY THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON CULTURE AND THE ARTS
IN 1977, my mentor, the poet and National Artist for Literature and Theater Rolando S. Tinio, wrote: "It is too simple-minded to suppose that enthusiasm for Filipino as lingua franca and national language of the country necessarily involves the elimination of English usage or training for it in schools.