Baybayin - Filipino Syllabary System

What is baybayin?  Baybayin is a syllabary system of writing that was used in some parts of the Philippines until the late 19th century.   When Spanish and Portuguese colonizers arrived in Mactan Island in 1521, they found that almost all the indigenous people they encountered could read and write in baybayin.  There were several versions found and the one I use predominantly is the Baybayin Tagalog version.  

My grandparents and great grandparents are from Ilocos Norte in Northern Luzon and the Visayas Island of Misamis.  My family settled in Lanao del Norte a century ago and this is the region I spent many of my summers, learning and speaking Visayan with my relatives.  When I learned about the existence of my indigenous writing 40 years ago, I had to learn more.  I spent many years understanding and teaching myself about the syllabary system, using my Tagalog and Visayan language skills and my artistic and calligraphy skills.  As a multimedia creative expressionist and artist, I have experimented with many media that helps produce the flowy and angular shapes of baybayin.

In 2017 I created and carried out a daylong workshop on Baybayin in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood.With the support of Beacon Arts, I invited several members of the Filipino community to learn about gender diversity, babaylan and practice baybayin together.  It was a huge success and one that I hope to do again soon,

I am planning a Baybayin workshop again, to teach and share this beautiful craft,  to share cultural revitalization together and build community with my diverse community, especially Filipinx queers who want to learn more about our culture. You do not need to know how to speak Tagalog to learn baybayin (though it helps to have a native speaker guide you in the correct forms.) 

Can you read my image above?  If you are interested in learning how to write in baybayin, please send me an email at tong@yahoo.com to sign up.