Going back to my Mother Tongue

TWENTY-NINE years ago, a struggling Engineer from Guagua was smitten by a dainty lass from Bacolor. The two, coming from the same province of Pampanga, shared their vows of loving each other for the rest of their lives. And from them came forth eight children.

And I am one of them.

I am a true-blooded Capampangan.

I grew up in our nest in San Fernando, which was built by my parent's sacrifices. I studied there until high school before I moved in Manila to enter college.

I am one of the daughters of Pampanga.

Pampanga, which was known all over the world because of the devastation it went through as Mt. Pinatubo erupted, is now flourishing particularly its capital that is now a city, San Fernando. Flyover, buildings of various companies not to mention malls, were already in the heart of San Fernando.

I am Capampangan by blood. I speak well of the basic language and can read as well.

But I have a revelation-- a revelation that might disappoint my forefathers: I am a Capampangan but I know nothing of its literature. I haven't read any of it. What a shame on my part.

I boast that I've read famous local and international writers but did I ever bother to read any from my own province? I don't even know any of the Capampangan writers.

Yes, how dare me for studying other's literature without even knowing my own. And how come I could write well in Tagalog? How come I can write in English? Those two languages were not even my mother tongue.

It matters to me because I am a Capampangan. As a writer, I challenge myself. It is now my call to make Capampangan Literature alive again. Not for others. But for my fellow Capampangans so that, before they could discover other's literature, they have known their own by heart.

I am deeply inspired by one of my professors, Dr. Marj. If she could write in Cebuano (her mother tongue), why can't I?

I still have a lot of time. And I should not waste it.