Patgek ken Nasudi nga Ilokano

Intro: This is an Ilokano poem, a short one, which I have just written today, Saturday afternoon, 15Aug2015, while reading Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili's book, "Gramatika ti Kontemporaneo nga Ilokano."

Ilokano is the major language, or lingua franca, of millions of people in the northern Philippines and other parts of the world where Ilokanos (the people of northern Philippines and elsewhere) abound. It is the 3rd most spoken language in the Philippines, besides Tagalog or Filipino and English.

The University of Hawai'i at Manoa, USA, in its Ilokano Language and Literature Program, is the first and only university in the world that has offered Bachelor of Arts in Ilokano for decades. Dr. Agcaoili is currently the coordinator of Ilokano Language and Literature Program there.

Until a few years ago, Philippines' Department of Education has implemented this Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) initiative in which schools in the northern Philippines are now teaching Ilokano to grades 1-6, due to the leadership of prolific author-lexicographer Dr. Agcaoili and his team at Nakem Conferences.

Patgek ken Nasudi nga Ilokano
(Daton ken Aurelio Solver Agcaoili, PhD)

Addaak iti minuyonganmi
iti likod ti balaymi
a mangbasbasa kenka
patgek nga Ilokano
                                ta adu pay ti adalek
                                takuatak ken ammuek
                                maipapan kenka
                                nasudi nga Ilokano
                                                               puli a naindaklan
                                                               pangnamnamaan ti pagilian
                                                               dinto pulos a malipatan
                                                               Timek-Utek iti Kailokuan.

Copyright 2015 by Chris A. Quilpa