NAVARRO, CAMILLE S.Throughout Philippine history, foreign languages like Spanish and English wereperceived as the proper mediums to educate the Filipinos in order to help them developtheir own literature. It had been the policy that native languages were not to be used inschools. t most, it isonlyusedasanau!iliarymediumof instruction. Philippineliterature had no place in the colonialclassroom because we are forced to learn theliterature of the coloni"ers. #e are led to believe that our own literature is inferior totheirsandwecouldonlybeeducatedandcivili"edif wewill learntheir literature.$owever, such act of prohibiting Philippine literature frombeing included in thecurriculum only served their interests as coloni"ers. It was their intention to feed ussuch notion in order to succeed in con%uering not only the Philippine Islands but alsothe minds of each and every Filipinos. Therefore, I strongly disagree to the idea thatFilipinos are to be blamed for the decline of their own literature because their minds aredull by nature and that they are incredibly la"y. It was not an option for the Filipinos towork and improve their literature during the Spanish coloni"ation because they are notonly deprived with personal liberty but also forced to be indoctrinated with falseperception. The Filipinos were preoccupied with their battle to stop slavery andoppressionthat theyset asidetheadvancement of their ownliteraturetofight theimminent problem of coloni"ation.Sadly, thestrugglethat wee!periencedduringtheSpanishcoloni"ationhascontinued up to the present time as evidenced by the educational policy to confine thenative language in remote sub&ects of formal school. This policy became entrenched bythe use of instructional materials in English, increase patronage of International Schoolsand imposition of 'English (nly) rules as early as primary education. The thought of notusing the English language is unacceptable to many because such is perceived to beanobstacle inattaining significance in the globalcommunity. Filipinos are constantlyreminded that the concept of language is never neutral in the international field. *ue tothis concept, Filipino writers began to use English as their medium of e!pression. Thiswas brought by the fact that English is widely accepted and was preferred among theintellectuals. It is undeniable that the foreign tongue became the basis of proficiencyand de!terity.Itis unfair to compare Philippine literature with other established literature. spointedout bythearticle, thePhilippineliteratureistoosimpleasopposedtothecomple! and well developed literature of India or +reece. ,ircumstances surroundingthe development of our literature such as coloni"ation and the fact that it is considerablyyoung shall be considered. #hile it is true that it is underdeveloped, it can still improveand evolve into a respectable form of literature.It isdishearteningtoseethat thefeaturesof colonialismremaineventoday.lthough we have been independent for many years, the present educational system isstill focused on using the English language. s a result, a lot of Filipino writers choose towrite in English. They doubt the viability of Filipino language as a medium because mostwriters become successful not by using their own language but by using the universallanguage, which is English.It is no doubt that Filipinos will evolve a great literature. $owever, it will not be intheir own language. ,onsidering the current state of Philippine literature, it is likely thatFilipinoswill usetheEnglishlanguagetoe!pressthemselveswhileclaimingtobeFilipinos at heart.It is reasonable because the fact remains that we are morecomfortableinusingsuchforeignlanguagewhichhasbecomepart of our culturalhistory. Such relation cannot be simply ignored. *espite such foreseeable outcome, I amstill optimistic that the Philippine-iterature will flourish using our own Philippine language. The impending triumph of theEnglish language over our own can still be prevented if every Filipino will work and dohis or her part in preserving the language we call our own. #ith the proper support ofthe government in providing better opportunities for writers using the Philippinelanguage, I believe that the current stagnation of Philippine literature will be minimi"edorevensolved. #ewereoncevictoriousinpreservingourliteraturebyresortingtosongs &ust to hand them down to the ne!t generation. Filipinos are resourceful and candefinitely surpass the modern day coloni"ation. fter all, colonial orientation ordisorientation depends on how we perceive it.