Isabuhay: A UPLB professor’s love letter to native tongues

This line, spoken in the hit Netflix series Bridgerton, highlights the importance of women in communication and languages. As one member of the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) faculty treads the challenging path of words and phrases, she has become devoted to her mission of preserving these native languages, creating a ripple of change and progress.

In an effort to showcase the Philippines’ efforts to preserve the country’s dying tongues from extinction, Assistant Professor of UPLB-College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Humanities Dr. Mariyel Hiyas C. Liwanag harmonizes the playful world of games with the equally colorful realm of Filipino languages with Isabuhay — a tabletop turn-based roleplaying game. This was created as part of her doctoral dissertation from De La Salle University-Manila.

Isabuhay sheds light on 22 of the nation’s 186 languages — highlighting lesser-known ones, such as the Dumagat Remontado of CALABARZON, Tawbuid of Mindoro, Manobo-Kinamiging of Camiguin, Eskaya of Bohol, Itawit of Cagayan, alongside more popular languages of the archipelago such as Kapampangan, Tagalog, and Pangasinense.

Completed over seven years, with delays due to the pandemic, this “passion project” is geared toward students in senior high school up to college — with the playtesters of Isabuhay being students of her COMA 101 (Language and Communication), COMA 102 (Language and Culture), and WIKA 1 (Wika, Kultura, at Lipunan) classes.

However, in a country so rich in culture and tradition, what is causing these languages to slowly fade into the shadows?

A slow and serial slaughter — that is how Nestor Castro, a professor at the UP Department of Anthology, described the death of a language in an interview with Inquirer. According to a social media post by the UP Department of Linguistics, among the country’s indigenous languages, 35 are endangered, 11 are on the brink of being lost, and two are officially extinct.

As languages start to die off, Castro states that this process starts with the loss of religious terms, followed by words integral to arts and culture, then words used to describe the environment. Finally, the loss of conversational language becomes the final nail in the coffin.

The death of these languages is primarily caused by a phenomenon called a “language shift,” which according to Britannica, occurs when younger generations become multilingual and use more dominant languages instead of their native ones. This is primarily motivated by the fact these prevalent languages have more social and economic advantages, or even to avoid discrimination among peers.

Though preservation efforts have been exerted towards these languages, the passing of Republic Act 12027 in October 2024, which removes the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) from kindergarten classes up to the third grade, may cause a hindrance to keep these native tongues alive. Accordingly, this was lamented by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, labeling the notion as “a step backward” towards protecting the nation’s cultural identities.

During her fieldwork and training for her Master's degree in Linguistics, Prof. Liwanag observed how these numerous factors affect whether a language continues to thrive or dies. However, these insights could not be included in her thesis due to its rigid focus on grammar and structure. 

“When you go to their communities, you see things beyond the structure or grammar of a language,” she told Explained PH.

This would later become one of her primary reasons for creating Isabuhay.

“Una sa lahat, gusto ko ipakilala ‘yong usapin ng napakaraming wika sa Pilipinas. Ikalawa, gusto [kong] ipaabot sa [mga] mag-aaral na napakaraming factors kung bakit nabubuhay, nagta-thrive, or nagdedevelop, or namamatay ang isang wika. Mga direct and indirect na mga influences, sociopolitical, economical, or policies man ‘yan,” Liwanag said.

The tabletop game targets the youth who may not be as interested in learning about indigenous languages, by taking a game-based learning (GBL) approach to preserving these native tongues. As stated by the University of Waterloo, GBL involves creating activities that are game-like and can incorporate pointing systems, badges, and leaderboards. This can help create a rewarding and entertaining experience for young learners — keeping them engaged and retaining their knowledge.

In Isabuhay, the players can earn badges to level up their characters — which can be obtained through quizzes, recitation, and individual activities. Though as of now, it cannot be played as a standalone as it is a GBL material, the board game can still give a goal to the students to work towards, creating an enhanced learning experience for students and fostering collaboration among peers.

“Level 1 to 6 ‘yan, para makapagpalevel sila, they need to pay me 25 badges. ‘Yong mga badges na yan, na-e-earn nila sa quizzes, exercises, graded recitations, essays,” Dr. Liwanag explained, emphasizing how Isabuhay is still tied to the classroom to give motivation to students.

This was further supported by the dissertation’s rationale, which states that it aims to cater towards what the youth are knowledgeable about and to give a digestible perspective on the fieldwork that occurs in language preservation. Furthermore, the decision to make it a tabletop game instead of a digital one also came from wanting to include students in less fortunate areas who may not have the means or knowledge to do so — an issue coined as the digital divide.

"’Yong technologies natin, hindi pa ganoon ka ready. So I assume na ganoon din sa State Universities and Colleges, ganoon din sa mga public schools. Tapos hindi naman lahat ng estudyante natin, may gadget. Pero at the same time, you want to make the game inclusive," Dr. Liwanag said.

Inspired by Isa de Vera’s martial law educational game “Lipunan”, Prof. Liwanag also stated that Isabuhay is meant to be an open education resource — free for all educators to use. She even went the extra mile to create the game in easily editable programs like Powerpoint and made it sustainable by letting the game board be printed on recycled paper and other sustainable materials.

"The best experience talaga ng isang tao para maranasan niya ang danas ng komunidad at kalagayan ng wika ay lumubog ka sa komunidad, but I recognize na for some students, napakahirap gawin ng basic mass integration, fieldwork, and there is risks," said Dr. Liwanag.

Every piece of the game is now in place. Now, how can one be part of the Isabuhay game?

Isabuhay is played on a Philippine map with different points toward different indigenous communities, with spaces distancing wherein players can move to get to the said communities. Played with teams of four players, all assuming different roles with unique traits and powers. The entire game can take up to a semester to finish, making it a long-term campaign like Dungeons and Dragons.

For the players’ roles, there is the “Guro” who can add speakers of a native language in a community, the “Mananaliksik” who can move to different communities faster, and the “Ahensya” that can stop the loss of language speakers in a community.

The main objective is simple: ensure that every native language survives the game’s eight periods — going from the pre-Hispanic period up to the Duterte administration, and build at least three language centers in each community. Each player has ten moves per turn — which can be spent by moving spaces across the map, adding speakers to a community, establishing a center, or using the Paliparan mechanic located in specific points of the map, letting them move to other Paliparans.

Like Monopoly and other board games, Isabuhay also incorporates the element of chance into the mix. This is most seen with the one who has the Game Master role, who has to randomly draw one out of 177 scenarios that can happen within the communities and their indigenous languages.

Accordingly, all of these chance events and even the game structure itself are based on Philippine history. With over 80 references under their belt, the players can have an event wherein a strict implementation of the English language is rolled out in the country, causing the loss of 500 native speakers. This was inspired by Executive Order 210 s. 2003 entitled “Establishing the Policy to Strengthen the Use of the English Language as a Medium of Instruction in the Educational System” signed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which made English the official language used in education. Not only that, the starting state of each native language is based on SIL Global’s Ethnologue.

Overall, Isabuhay gives the player a glimpse into the uphill battle language preservationists have to fight in order to preserve the country’s cultural identity — as well as fostering a sense of teamwork, strategy, and camaraderie among peers as this game is not a competition between teams, but rather having the game design itself as the opponent and a formidable one at that.

Awarded the Gawad Julian Cruz Balmaseda 2025 award from the KWF, Dr. Liwanag states that this award is only a bonus. Her goals lie in making sure that the game can be spread through all schools in the Philippines. Not only that, she aims to use Isabuhay as a tool to show the importance of teamwork in preserving our indigenous languages.

"Maraming gustong tumulong sa pagpapaunlad ng wika you can only do so much when you're alone. But if it is a collective effort of trying to develop a language, alam mong hindi lang ikaw ang kailangan para magtagumpay sa ganoong klaseng endeavor, you'll really need a lot of people there, including the community," she stated.

Securing Isabuhay’s copyright under UPLB, Dr. Liwanag is currently in contact with institutions to mainstream the game but is primarily focused on simply getting it out there. Moreover, she aims to tweak the game to not only make it a GBL material, but a standalone one to enhance accessibility.

"Alam ko rin ang pakiramdam ng isang gurong kumukuha ng out of pocket para makapagdagdag ng pampapukaw interes sa mga estudyante niya, na hindi dapat ganon. I mean, nice for them to do that pero wala namang ganoong opportunity when it comes to pasahod sa guro," she emphasized.

Furthermore, the professor also calls for funding in studies regarding communication arts and challenges that institutions and the government must go beyond spotlighting the languages only in Buwan ng Wika, and instead play a proactive role in preserving them. Not only that, she advocates for increased pay for educators so that they can focus on creating innovative teaching solutions.

“Lumalabas lang naman kami at nafefeature lang kami kapag Buwan ng Wika. Afterwards, wala na. Gone… so my colleagues were really pushing me na ‘Grab the opportunity [to be interviewed], — kasi lagi lang tayong nafefeature kapag Buwan ng Wika,” Dr. Liwanag lamented. 

“So ibig sabihin, alam mong medyo bansot pa ang antas ng pag-unawa sa wika,” she added. 

Like women, language is not something to be appreciated and honored for a month and then discarded for the rest of the year. In light of National Women’s Month, may Dr. Liwanag’s work be a stepping stone to expanding the horizons of preserving native languages and recognizing the hardworking women in the field.

Let us be the ones to support the women of every field — not just linguistics, as they become the trailblazers of the future, and let us be the ones to “isabuhay” this advocacy of keeping these native tongues alive for the rest of our lives.