ANGELES CITY – Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. is urging the promotion of Kapampangan as an intellectual language by using it as the medium of instruction at least three hours per week once face-to-face classes resume in the city’s 76 Day Care centers.
Mayor Lazatin, in a letter addressed to City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) Officer-In-Charge Edna Duaso, is seeking help to reinforce the use of the Kapampangan language in the Day Care centers.
“Bilang Angelenos, mumuna tamu dapat managuyod king kultura at salitang Kapampangan,” Lazatin said.
In the said letter, Mayor Lazatin reiterated Ordinance No. 426, particularly Chapter 8 Section 17 and 17.6 which state that “the Angeles City government shall promote Kapampangan as an intellectual language by restoring its rightful place in Education.”
“With Kapampangan as Angeles City’s heritage language and mother tongue, educational establishments at all levels shall, in accordance with DepEd Order No. 74, s. 2009 (Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education) and section 5-F of the K-12 Law (R.A. 10533,) be enjoined, to encourage the use of Kapampangan in official school gatherings, meetings, programs, and celebrations,” it added.
In addition, Mayor Lazatin said, the initiative aims to preserve, safeguard, revitalize, and promote the use of Kapampangan in the city.
Mayor Lazatin also asked help from media entities such as TV, radio, and print outlets, to raise awareness about the Amanung Sisuan, in order to make sure that the next generation of Kapampangans can carry the city’s culture and language.
It can be recalled that the city council here, headed by Vice Mayor Vicky Vega-Cabigting, has begun reinforcing the use of Kapampangan, sending out resolutions written in the Amánung Sísuan, or mother tongue.
Mayor Lazatin on January 2021 has also written a letter addressed to Vega-Cabigting, asking the Sangguniang Panglunsod to help him in his initiative to enforce Ordinance No. 424 series of 2017, establishing Kapampangan as an official language of Angeles City and institutionalizing its use in all sectors, alongside existing national and official languages.