The Philippines is a multilingual country, with no less than 87 ethnic languages, eight of which are considered major in terms of the number of native speakers. After its annexation from Spain by the United States in the early 1900s, the Philippines made English its official language to be taught and used as medium of instruction in Philippine schools and to serve, together with Spanish for some time, as official medium of communication in other government domains such as the legislature, the courts, etc. It was likewise used in business transactions and in religious services and even gave rise to a body of Philippine literature in English. The language policy then was prompted by a desire to have a common language for negotiation in a multilingual society since at that time there was no single lingua franca for the entire nation.

However, with the wave of nationalism that resulted ultimately in the gaining of independence, a clamour arose for a national language based on one of the major Philippine languages, but drawing from the other Philippine languages as well. Named Pilipino (now respelled Filipino) the national language shares with English the status of official languages of the country. Initially, the Philippine Bilingual Education Policy sought to develop bilinguals competent in English and Filipino, the national language, with specific domains allocated to the two languages. Science, mathematics and English were to be taught using English as medium of instruction while the other subjects were to be taught in Filipino.

The 1987 Revised Philippine Bilingual Education Policy however saw some modifications made to the policy. It endorsed the use of the regional languages as auxiliary languages of instruction for beginning literacy. In this it was motivated by Cummins’ Interdependence Hypothesis as the rationale for using the child’s native language in teaching cognitively demanding concepts and thus avoiding cognitive deficit and possible semilingualism on the part of the learner. A close examination of the policy reveals its goal to be that of transitional bilingualism with the non-exclusive use of English in the domains that were previously allocated solely to it.

Subsequent factors have influenced the language policy of the country. On the one hand, deterioration in English proficiency has been noted even among educated Filipinos. This phenomenon is attributed in part to the reduced time in the use of English in school and to the increased exposure and use of Filipino in themass media. Other contributing factors cited by Gonzalez, Jambalos and Romero (2003) are “the inadequacy of learning resources, and the absence of good models in English since the teachers are not themselves good models”.

On the other hand, globalization and the widespread use of English in the global village and the growing Filipino workforce seeking employment outside the country necessitate proficiency in English. But with the widening circle of English users and the rise of different varieties of English, an old issue has resurfaced. What variety of English should be taught in schools? Should it be Philippine English (henceforth PhlE) as an evolving local Asian variety, or General American English (henceforth gAmE) as the influential western medium from which it sprung?