The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino isn’t a fan of ‘FilipinX’

The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) doesn't vibe with the term “FilipinX.” Popular among some circles in the United States as a gender-neutral swap for “Filipino” or “Filipina,” the word isn't anything to write home about, at least not to the KWF.

“Makapangyarihan po kasi sa atin ang letrang 'o' at 'a' sapagkat kapag ‘yan ay inilagay mo sa isang salita, nagbabago ang kasarian nito. Lalo na sa atin ang ponemang 'o' ay nauukol sa lalaki tapos kapag 'a' naman, para sa babae. Kaya nga kapag doktor, ‘yan ay generic. Kapag doktora, nagiging babae. Kapag senadora, nagiging babae,” KWF Commissioner Benjamin Mendillo said in an interview with DZMM.

(It’s because the letters ‘o’ and ‘a’ hold a lot of power in our language — when you add them to a word, its gender changes. In our case, the phoneme ‘o’ usually refers to the male, while ‘a’ is for the female. That’s why when you say ‘doktor,’ it’s generic. But when you say ‘doktora,’ it becomes female. Same with ‘senadora’ — it becomes female.)

He noted that some Filipino words are already gender-neutral, such as “manggagawa” and “manghuhula.”

“Hindi rin pwede ‘yung manananggol, manananggal,” he added.

For the KWF, the Filipino language should not be abandoned, as there is no one else who will preserve it.

“Kapag lagi nating ginagamit ang ibang mga wika, talagang maglalaho ang ating kultura at talino…Kumbaga ang laban o digmaan ay hindi lamang nakapaloob sa pulitikal na pamamaraan. Maaari ding sa wika tayo’y masakop,” Mendillo said.

Online reference site dictionary.com has previously added “Filipinx” and its informal counterpart “Pinxy,” defining the terms as anyone born in the Philippines regardless of gender.