DAVAO CITY – The House committee on social services approved House Bill 450 or the proposed Filipino Sign Language (FSL) Act, which would declare FSL as the national sign language in the Philippines.
Proponent ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said in a statement that if the bill would be passed, it would mandate government “to recognize, promote, and support FSL as the medium of official communication in all transactions involving the Filipino deaf, including in public schools, hospitals, and government offices and in broadcast media”.
“This is an initial victory for the Filipino deaf community, one that moves up a step closer to the realization of the rights of our deaf kababayans to full and equal participation in society,” said Tinio.
Tinio clarified that the mandatory use of FSL will not ban the voluntary use of the American sign language or artificial sign systems such as Manually Coded English currently sanctioned officially by DepEd to teach deaf students aural and written English.
Before being approved at committee level on May 19, HB 450 underwent extensive consultations, and garnered the support of regional, national, and international organizations of the Deaf, as well as that of government agencies including the National Council on Disability Affairs.
The bill would be set for plenary debates at the Lower House for approval. Tinio said they are pushing for the passage of the bill the soonest possible time to ensure the right of deaf children to education, “as they can now learn in their own natural, visual language as their first language.”
