[2] It is a de facto standardized variety of the native Tagalog language,[3] spoken and written in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region, and in other urban centers of the archipelago.

The Malay language was generally used by the ruling classes and the merchants from the states and various cultures in the Philippine archipelago for international communication as part of maritime Southeast Asia.

The eventual capital established by Spain for its settlement in the Philippines was Manila, situated in a Tagalog-speaking region, after the capture of Manila from the Muslim Kingdom of Luzon ruled by Raja Matanda with the heir apparent Raja Sulayman and the Hindu-Buddhist Kingdom of Tondo ruled by Lakan Dula.

[6] The first dictionary of Tagalog, published as the Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, was written by the Franciscan Pedro de San Buenaventura,[7] and published in 1613 by the "Father of Filipino Printing" Tomás Pinpin in Pila, Laguna.

A latter book of the same name was written by Czech Jesuit missionary Paul Klein (known locally as Pablo Clain) at the beginning of the 18th century.

Spanish played a significant role in unifying the Philippines, a country made up of over 7,000 islands with a multitude of ethnicities, languages, and cultures.

Before Spanish rule, the archipelago was not a unified nation, but rather a collection of independent kingdoms, sultanates, and tribes, each with its own language and customs.

[11] The United States initiated policies that led to the gradual removal of Spanish from official use in the Philippines.

[12] Later, President Manuel L. Quezon later appointed representatives for each major regional language to form the NLI.

Led by Jaime C. De Veyra, who sat as the chair of the Institute and as the representative of Samar-Leyte-Visayans, the Institute's members were composed of Santiago A. Fonacier (representing the Ilokano-speaking regions), Filemon Sotto (the Cebu-Visayans), Casimiro Perfecto (the Bikolanos), Felix S. Sales Rodriguez (the Panay-Visayans), Hadji Butu (the languages of Muslim Filipinos), and Cecilio Lopez (the Tagalogs).

Lacuesta hosted a number of "anti-purist" conferences and promoted a "Manila Lingua Franca" which would be more inclusive of loanwords of both foreign and local languages.

Lacuesta managed to get nine congressmen to propose a bill aiming to abolish the SWP with an Akademia ng Wikang Filipino, to replace the balarila with a Gramatica ng Wikang Filipino, to replace the 20-letter Abakada with a 32-letter alphabet, and to prohibit the creation of neologisms and the respelling of loanwords.

The KWF reports directly to the President and was tasked to undertake, coordinate and promote researches for the development, propagation and preservation of Filipino and other Philippine languages.

Definite, absolute, and unambiguous interpretation of 92–1 is the prerogative of the Supreme Court in the absence of directives from the KWF, otherwise the sole legal arbiter of the Filipino language.

[28] On August 22, 2007, it was reported that three Malolos City regional trial courts in Bulacan decided to use Filipino, instead of English, in order to promote the national language.

De la Rama said it was the dream of Chief Justice Reynato Puno to implement the program in other areas such as Laguna, Cavite, Quezon, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, Rizal, and Metro Manila, all of which mentioned are natively Tagalog-speaking.

The celebration coincides with the month of birth of President Manuel L. Quezon, regarded as the "Ama ng Wikang Pambansa" (Father of the national language).

[32] It is argued that current state of the Filipino language is contrary to the intention of Republic Act (RA) No.

On May 23, 2007, Ricardo Maria Nolasco, KWF chair and a linguistics expert, acknowledged in a keynote speech during the NAKEM Conference at the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte, that Filipino was simply Tagalog in syntax and grammar, with as yet no grammatical element or lexicon coming from Ilokano, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, or any of the other Philippine languages.

According to the KWF, Filipino is that speech variety spoken in Metro Manila and other urban centers where different ethnic groups meet.

They have the same determiners (ang, ng and sa); the same personal pronouns (siya, ako, niya, kanila, etc.

[3]In connection with the use of Filipino, or specifically the promotion of the national language, the related term Tagalista is frequently used.

the General Assembly proclaims this UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.