Our Mother Tongue
We note that Rizal considers a people's mother tongue as a gift from heaven. The poet must certainly have considered the Filipino language as a unique blessing to a unique people who, if we only realize the value of the treasure we hold in the tips of our tongues, would surely yearn for the freedom to build an identity for ourselves, free from the influence of foreign lands. Upon reading it explains why language is linked to the need for freedom, why language is more than just a group of words people use to communicate to each other. We find the origin of Rizal's well-known proverb, He who does not love his own language is worse than an animal and smelly fish. (Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika, daig pa ang hayop at malansang isda.) He then further stresses that a nation's language is a treasure to be valued and cherished., It is only right for Filipinos to consider Tagalog not as a lower form of language. It can be supposed that the regard people have for their native tongue has a great influence on the regard they have for their own identity as a nation. Tagalog is a language given by God. It is, therefore, not to be treated as one inferior to other tongues. Filipinos, likewise, ought not to feel inferior to other nations and should desire freedom for they, like everyone else, are capable of upholding our identity ourselves. It explained the letters unique only to the Filipino language could be traced back to Baybayin.