The evolution of Tagalog

In 1935, Manuel L. Quezon, newly elected president of the "Philippine Autonomous Government" established that year, added the so-called "National Language Clause" to Article 14, Item 3 of the Philippine Constitution. ": "┅┅Congress should do its best to develop a national language based on one of the existing native languages┅┅" (quoted from Belvez 2002). After a special committee was formed and conducted some research, eight "major" languages ??with a population of more than 1 million became candidates for the Philippines' national language. Later, only two languages ??were left as final contenders, one was Cebuano and the other was Tagalog (Rubino 1998). Cebuano was the most populous native language in the Philippines at that time. It was mainly spoken in Cebu, Bohol, Negros, and the western part of Leyte in the Visayas. and the northern part of Mindanao (Wikipedia 2005b). Tagalog is the dominant language in Metro Manila, although it ranks second in terms of speakers. The committee later selected Tagalog as the basis for the developing national language of the Philippines.

In 1937, President Quezon declared Tagalog as the national language of the Philippines.

In 1940, Tagalog began to be taught in all schools in the Philippines.

On July 4, 1946, the Philippines officially declared independence from the United States, and Tagalog officially became the national language of the Philippines. From 1961 to 1987, Tagalog was also called "Pilipino".

After 1987, the spelling of "Filipino" was changed to "Filipino" (Wikipedia 2005a).