Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 7104)
Republic Act No. 7104 is known as the Commission on the Filipino Language Act.
The policy of the Government is to ensure and promote the evolution, development, and further enrichment of Filipino as the national language of the Philippines, based on existing Philippine and other languages.
Filipino is defined in the Act as the national language of the Philippines.
Philippine languages refer to the indigenous languages of the Philippines, including the national language and the regional and local languages.
The Commission is composed of eleven (11) commissioners representing the major Philippine languages and ethnolinguistic regions. It includes representatives of Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, the major language of Muslim Mindanao, Northern and Southern Cultural Communities, other Philippine languages or ethnolinguistic regions, and at least four commissioners represent various disciplines.
The President appoints the commissioners with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, from nominees submitted by different ethnolinguistic regions. A commissioner must be a natural-born Filipino citizen, at least 30 years old, morally upright, and an expert in linguistics and the culture and language of the ethnolinguistic region and discipline they represent.
The Chairman and two full-time commissioners serve for seven years. Four commissioners serve five years and the other four serve three years. Commissioners may be reappointed for one additional term.
The Commission formulates policies and programs to develop, enrich, and propagate Filipino and other Philippine languages, conducts research, promulgates rules and standards on linguistic forms, promotes writing and publication in Filipino and other languages, supports translation work, organizes public hearings, and submits annual reports to the President and Congress, among others.
Publications of the Commission such as dictionaries, vocabularies, grammars, pamphlets, and similar printed matter enjoy the use of the mails free of postage.
All personnel, records, assets, equipment, funds, and properties of the Institute of Philippine Languages were transferred to the Commission on the Filipino Language. The Institute was abolished upon the organization and functioning of the Commission, and its research and intellectual outputs were likewise transferred.