THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas has drawn criticism over the incorrect use of Baybayin in street signs that officials claimed are just initial designs for a project.
The signs containing the supposed Baybayin equivalent of street names were seen by students as early as yesterday and immediately made rounds online.
Critics then assailed what they described as “inaccurately-used” script, saying UST should have consulted Baybayin experts first before the street signs were placed.
Hours later, the signages were removed from their location near the UST Athletic Field.
UST Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean Prof. Melanie Turingan said the signages, which were put up by the UST Facilities Management Office (FMO), were just prototypes and were displayed to inspect their height, width and other physical features.
“‘Yung posteng ‘yun hindi pa ‘yun ‘yung totoo; prototype pa lang. Tinitignan nila kung valid, kung maganda… Sa aesthetic, ta’s ‘yung length and ‘yung size,” Turingan told The Flame.
(That post isn’t the final version; it’s just a prototype. They’re checking if it’s valid, looks good in concept… Its aesthetics, length, and size.)
Turingan, a history professor, said she enlisted a research assistant knowledgeable of Baybayin to help with the translations after FMO had requested feedback from the faculty earlier this month.
“We just helped to ensure that what was put up was accurate,” Turingan said.
The dean said FMO intended to remove the prototype signages before the onslaught of super typhoon Carina. Because of the floods in the campus, FMO could not remove the signages immediately, she added.
“(FMO) did not really intend to display [the street signages] to be noticed. It just happened that we were hit by a typhoon so their focus was diverted to other matters,” Turingan said.
Aside from the Baybayin script, Turingan initially suggested the inclusion of the country’s primary languages to the signages’ layout.
“I told them (FMO) that Baybayin is not supposed to be spelled out by letters. So I told them to also translate them into Tagalog… I [was also hoping] there was a [translation] to English, but people might get overwhelmed already,” she said.
Turingan also proposed to change the signs’ color from black to blue or green so they would be more visible in case of emergency.
There is no final date yet for the final installation of the signages, she added.
The Flame has requested an official statement from the FMO on the matter but has not received a response as of this writing. F – Janssen Judd Romero and Trisha Tamio
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