LINGAYEN, Pangasinan March 04 – The Center for Pangasinan Studies (CPS) recently during the second installment of its lecture series held at the Sison Auditorium cited the relevance of Pangasinan Studies in the locale, national and international setting.
The CPS lecture “Pangasinan Studies: The Locale, National and the Global” by Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino Commissioner Ma. Crisanta Nelmida-Flores was attended by educators who specialize in research and community development and students from higher education institutions, elementary and secondary schools and employees from the provincial government.
Addressing the participants on behalf of Governor Amado I. Espino, III, Provincial Administrator Nimrod Camba took pride of the CPS for steering research work on Pangasinan to help contribute in the over-all efforts to attain the development thrusts set by the provincial administration.
Atty. Camba cited the CPS inaugural lecture in July 2016 which had Commission of Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Prospero De Vera, former University of the Philippines (UP) Vice President for Public Affairs, as the resource speaker as a fitting opportunity for Pangasinenses to connect with the topic: “Challenges and Opportunities of a Federal Philippines.”
Meanwhile, CPS Director Perla E. Legazpi stressed that not only the academic community, but all Pangasinenses, must engage with Pangasinan Studies.
“Dealing with Pangasinan Studies, a Pangasinense could learn information on how to make a research, assess any Pangasinan program or project, and deal with history, literature, culture and development — all pertaining to Pangasinan,” Dr. Legazpi said.
“Pangasinan Studies connects people on the set-up in the locale, national as well as to the world and global setting,” she added.
Dr. Flores, a UP professor, in her lecture, cited three theoretical assumptions which focus Pangasinan Studies as inclusive, multidisciplinary and multiperspectival and proactive.
She likewise lauded the provincial government, owing to the extensive promotion and preservation of the Pangasinan language which is undertaken under the administration of former Pangasinan governor and now 5th district Representative Amado I. Espino, III and is being continued by the present leadership.
Flores noted intervention strategies initiated by the provincial leadership which include the institutionalizing of Pangasinan Hymn, enrichment of Pangasinan Orthography and the launching of literary contest in Pangasinan language ‘Kurit Panlunggaring’ as monumental efforts to protect the Pangasinan language from the threat of oblivion.
Citing all these intervention strategies, she denied speculations that Pangasinan language is dying to note the fact that there are still over a million Pangasinenses who speak the dialect.
Present during the second CPS lecture were: CHED Commissioner De Vera, CPS key players from the consortium of five Pangasinan-based higher education institutions.
By Dexter A. See