1 day ago
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“Neighbors” is Rappler People section’s space for community and human interest stories told in a personal way.
Being a ’90s kid, I would recall taking jeepney or bus rides to another town, and unintentionally listening to the funny ad libs of the DJs speaking in our local language, Pangasinan. The image and sound of passengers laughing and chattering while Pangasinan novelty songs by Insyong played loudly bring so much nostalgia. While such scenes are not as common as they were decades ago, it is comforting to hear stories from my students that sometimes they too would hear people speaking in Pangasinan on the radio programs while they are on their way to school.
This brings me back to the research I did for my graduate thesis in 2017 — nearly a decade ago — which focused on the revitalization of Pangasinan language through local radio stations. Radio is very much a part of the lives of jeepney and tricycle drivers listening to Insyong’s “Malabir Ka” while transporting passengers, of residents casually talking about local politics at sari-sari store as they listen to a commentaries program.
The six radio stations I monitored and interviewed extensively used (they still do) Pangasinan language on their programs (with bits of English and Tagalog here and there): Aksyon Radyo Dagupan, Barangay 93.5 Tugstugan Na, Bombo Radyo Dagupan, Energy FM, Love Radio Dagupan, and Radyo Asenso. Ilocano language is also being used since the greater portion of Pangasinan’s population in the western and eastern areas are Ilocano speakers.
I don’t think the commentaries and ad libs of radio announcers would be as witty and funny if they didn’t say them in Pangasinan or use expressions unique to our language.
“Apuram la siren, napaspas ta ka la.” (Hurry, or else I’m going to hurt you.)
“Mila ka nabwas ah, paraday bobo.” (Join tomorrow’s parade of the mediocre.)
Pangasinenses are fond of telling stories and anecdotes in the local language because there is no other way of making it funnier. When you pass by a group of vendors in the public market, you would hear them laughing and bickering with each other using words like “ba*ninato la ya,” an expression of disgust which seemed to have no direct translation in other language. It always feels like home when I pass through the talipapa and being told, “Mangaliw ka la, ganda!” (Bili ka na, Ganda!).
Some of the radio programs have Pangasinan as its official medium of broadcast and some live newscasts are being aired in pure Pangasinan language. This, I believe, is one of the strongest attributes of the local radio — people from different walks of life, not only the English- or the Filipino-speaking class, will have access to news.
Roam around Lingayen beach and you would see children who can only speak and understand Pangasinan language. I have come across a fishball vendor who attached a radio set to his trike so he could listen to newscasts delivered in Pangasinan, as it is the only language he knows. And because the the local radio stations broadcast in the local language this way, they become inclusive and are able to truly serve the local communities. I love how the local media empower the people.
When I interviewed two radio DJs from Energy FM, I found out that the station owned a drama team, comprising of actors and Pangasinan scriptwriters producing Pangasinan Radio Dramas. The production team was composed of famous Pangasinan sarsuwela performers from before.
Their radio drama, Energy Love Stories, is emotionally compelling with the exchange of lines and dialogues stated in Pangasinan:
“Mansasalita ka habang unuuugep, wala ray binitlam ya Myra, Amy, Susan, tan arom ni ra.” (You were talking while asleep. There were names you have mentioned including Myra, Amy, Susan and others.)
Apuyat ak ed panaanap na bitlaen mo so ngaran ko. (I didn’t fall asleep waiting for you to say my name.)
The language has so much depth in it, a high level of authenticity that Pangasineneses can resonate with, that hearing Pangasinan radio dramas bring back their childhood memories, reminiscing how their departed lolos and lolas would listen to them on a Sunday afternoon, and all they think and worry about is being obliged to take a nap.
Pangasinan songs are also being strongly revitalized in the local airwaves despite the prevalence of pop music, heavily influenced by foreign cultures. Pangasinan songwriters and composers like Mr. Digno Tamayo of Radyo Asenso would do renditions of popular songs translated in Pangasinan — that even young people listen to and patronize. On its program Gusting Goes Anything, Tamayo composed and sung a song in Pangasinan language to the tune of Scorpion’s “Always Somewhere”:
Nay, si Tatay
Anengneng kod gilig na baybay
Kaiba to, si Inday
(Mother, I saw father beside the beach with Inday)
Nay, si Inday
Akalakap kinen Tatay
Laba-labay to met nen Tatay
(Mother, I saw Inday in the arms of Father, and he liked it very much.)
Mansyudot si Nanay
Alagaren toy Tatay
Agko met gabay ya manpasnok si Nanay
Unloob, unpaway angalay wasay
(Mother got mad and she waited for Father.
I don’t want MOther to get mad
She went inside the house,
and then went out carrying an axe.)
Nay, aleg Nay
Agyo wawasayen si Tatay
Ibanan yo itay wasay
Napreso ka, na-andi bilay
(Mother, don’t.
Don’t hit father with the axe.
Drop the weapon.
You will be imprisoned.)
For radio news and talk programs, Pangasinan language is used by the radio announcers to effectively express their opinions on social and political issues. This allows those who are not privileged to attend school to know and understand what is happening in the province.
As a professor of communication now, I continue to advocate for the power of the local radio industry in revitalizing our language and culture. At a time when trends and technology can introduce communities to other cultural interests or widen the gap between rich and poor through the materials they can consume, the widespread use of our local language keep us Pangasinenses grounded in our collective identity, in our oneness.
Just by sticking to Pangasinan language, the local radio will always have the power to bring back memories of us kids frequenting the fields and swamps, playing patintero, chasing dragonflies, walking through the Maramba Boulevard, and listening to radio news during power outage.
They will always bring me back to days when I would sit in the front row of the audience, watching a sarsuwela, clapping and laughing with people I knew in Barangay Naguelguel where I grew up, with my father mounting me on his shoulders so I could see the performers when taller people would start standing up as the story got funnier and more exciting.
That sense of familiarity — it’s giving soul-hurt, but also strength, hope, connection, empathy, sense of belongingness.
And if only for that — or precisely because of that — let’s please keep Pangasinan’s local radio stations alive. – Rappler.com
Mary Joyce Camille A. Paragas is a faculty member of Pangasinan State University. She is an advocate for women and gender equality, a poet, writer, and art enthusiast. She loves books, coffee, documentary filmmaking, cats, chess, and local OPM bands.
