AN OPEN LETTER TO THE DECISION MAKERS Dr. Servillano A. Arzaga, CESO V Schools Division Superintendent Schools Division of Palawan PEO Rd., Bancao-Bancao, Puerto Princesa City Cc: Vice-Gov Dennis M. Socrates and the Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Palawan; Vice-Mayor Maria Nancy Socrates Socrates and the Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Puerto Princesa; Mayor Rommel Dela Torre Dela Torre Magsaysay, Palawan Vice-Mayor Mayor Manuel C. Abrea and the Members of the Sangguniang Bayan of Magsaysay Mayor Andrew Lim Ong Cuyo, Palawan Vice-Mayor Christopher Jake Tan and the Members of the Sangguniang Bayan of Cuyo Engr. Roldan V. Parangue Palawan Provincial Director National Commission on Indigenous Peoples To Whom It May Concern: I am so far away from home, but I am very concerned about what's happening to our Cuyonon Dialect/Language. Every day, my heart, my mind and my soul is always tied up in our province; but that's not why I am writing you today. I was informed that the Elphick and Sohn (E&S) team who made a research on Cuyonon Orthography is allegedly exerting influence at the Department of Education (DepEd) to use their resource materials to be taught in schools in Palawan. In addition, there is a letter to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan that allegedly questions why they haven’t acted on the Elphick and Sohn presentation on the Cuyonon Orthography. We and most of the full or half-blooded Cuyonos reject their version of Cuyonon Orthography due to the following reasons: 1. The E&S alphabet has19 letters with one glottal stop with four vowels a, e, i and o. By the way, a glottal stop is a character, not a letter. They have deleted the nine letters that are associated with foreign words (C, F, J, Ñ, Q, U, V, X, and Z). 2. The Cuyonos have a particular way of writing like “Gaqued Y Ang Mga Cuyunon; Pista Y Ang Cagueban; Tirapan ang Culturang Cuyonon; Dicionariong Cuyunon” among others. Without those letters, the Cuyonos won’t be able to spell words that they have normally used for centuries. 3. Their 19-letter Cuyonon alphabet is contrary to the Provincial Ordinance No. 1795 Series 2017 that states, "There should be 28 letters in the Cuyonon alphabet, namely: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, NG, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z. It is also the same alphabet that is being used by the Department of Education (DepEd). 4. While they conducted their research in 2009, who gave them the authority to delete those letters? Is there a public hearing that involves the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Palawan or the DepEd all those years? 5. They said that there is a Cuyonon Advisory Panel, but one half of them are close relatives of one of the authors; two are members of their own church; one is a Cebuana who couldn’t even speak straight Cuyonon. While four members have doctoral degrees and one is a member of the clergy, the representation doesn’t include the Tribal Leaders or the locals who did not go to school. 6. Was there a referendum that asks the Cuyonos if it’s OK to delete these letters and they can’t use the letter U and soft E anymore except in proper nouns? Were the Cuyonos asked if it’s acceptable to them to use the IMO-IMONG PAGSURULATEN (made up system of writing) that not only looks ridiculous but shameful to be identified with the Cuyonon Orthography? 7. It is sad that while this research was being conducted, no one ever made a whimper re: deletion of these nine letters in our Cuyonon alphabet. Otherwise, we won’t be in this chaotic situation right now. 8. While I am leading this cause, most of the Cuyonos that are with me are very unhappy about the removal of the nine letters in Cuyonon Orthography as well as the rule that there’s no U and soft E in Cuyonon. 9. As far as we know, the Final Validation on Cuyonon Orthography was only conducted by DepEd in Magsaysay, Palawan in August 2017. That is the Cuyonon Orthography that we want to be implemented in Palawan schools. Let the DepEd do its job without any external influence from Elphick and Sohn that would be detrimental to our children today and the succeeding generations. 10. WE INVOKE OUR RIGHTS under the Philippine Constitution of 1987 Section 17, Article XIV; the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act R. A. 8371 Section 16, and the NCIP Administrative Order No. 001 Series of 2009 that protect the rights, culture and tradition of the Indigenous People. 11. Since most of you are Cuyonos by birth or half blood Cuyonos, we expect your support to protect our traditional way of writing. Let no letter be deleted from our 28 letters in Alpabetong Cuyonon. Let us continue to use the letters U and soft E in our Cuyonon Orthography. Let them be taught in schools in Palawan, the way that DepEd sees fit, based on their consultations with our locals and tribal leaders. 12. We have set up an online petition that allows Cuyonos local or abroad to sign. As of now, there are already 531 signatories, including the hard copy submitted to DepEd. We learned that most Cuyonos in Palawan are using data, so they find it hard to download and sign this petition. We have mobilized people locally to sign this petition TO REJECT THE ELPHICK & SOHN ORTHOGRAPHY. WE SUPPORT THE DepEd VERSION OF THE CUYONON ORTHOGRAPHY that is consistent with Provincial Ordinance 1795 S. 2017. Please expect the hard copy of these petitions to get into your office as soon as enough signatories are gathered. ACTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: While waiting for our signature campaign, enclosed are the documents that you need to conduct an investigation on this matter. At the same time, let us allow the DepEd to implement their Pilot Project in Cuyonon Language as scheduled. They have the best interests of the Cuyonos at heart by having 28 letters in the alphabet with five vowels. Here is the link to our online petition so you can actually see the people who signed and how many signatories that we have now. Aside from these, please wait for the hardcopies of the petition and the signatories in your