Jamayka Rhose Pascual

A University of the Philippines - Los Baños (UPLB) professor has developed an educational board game designed to help preserve the country’s native languages.


UPLB assistant professor Mariyel Hiyas Liwanag has created ‘Isabuhay,’ a board game that aims to engage high school and college students in learning about the country’s linguistic heritage.

For Liwanag, who teaches Communication Arts, preserving the country’s native languages is more than just an academic pursuit, it is a mission.

Her inspiration for Isabuhay came from a deep passion for language and communication, as well as her desire to make learning more interactive and engaging.

The board game intends to teach players about 180 native Filipino languages, many of which are at risk of extinction due to factors including migration, mining, and changing education policies.

Liwanag revealed in an interview that she spent seven years conceptualizing and refining the board game, conducting multiple play tests with students to further improve its mechanics.

Isabuhay is designed for four players per team, with each player taking on roles such as teacher, researcher, agency representative, and language promoter.

Players work together to complete a mission centered on saving native languages, navigating challenges, and historical events that have shaped the country’s linguistic landscape.

The game incorporates issues including bilingual education policies, linguistic human rights, and the effects of displacement on language vitality.

Currently, Liwanag is working to secure copyright protection for the game under UPLB, aiming to protect its integrity while making it widely accessible.

She envisions an open-access model where teachers can download and print the game materials for classroom use.

Through this initiative, Liwanag hopes to make learning about Filipino languages more engaging and accessible to students across the country.

Liwanag’s work earned her the Gawad Julian Cruz Balmaseda 2025 award from the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), which granted her a P100,000 prize for her dissertation.

Alongside Liwanag, Kristine Mae Nares of Bicol University was also awarded the Gawad Julian Cruz Balmaseda 2025 for her thesis on cultural mapping in Guinobatan, Albay.

Both educators received P100,000 for their contributions to language and cultural research.