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Senator Loren Legarda is launching 'Usapang Wika', a documentary featuring the country's main languages in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Legarda will host the ten-part cultural documentary that will highlight the Ilokano, Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a, Waray, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, and Maranaw languages.

"Our languages are a vital part of our heritage and our identity as a nation, and we must preserve them as a sign of our respect for our history and culture. Through 'Usapang Wika', we aim to convey the significance of the Filipino languages by way of engaging the general public especially the youth," she explained.

Legarda, a long-time advocate of Philippine culture and arts, has been consistently pushing for the preservation and continued use of the country's native languages especially that many would face extinction if not promoted.

According to the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), there are 130 native languages in the country, however, the Defenders of the Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago (DILA) said several have already become endangered.

Together with KWF, Legarda has supported efforts in preserving the country's languages through various projects such as the Language Markers Project, which seeks to install language markers in different parts of the country where a specific language was born.

She also supports the Department of Education's (DepEd) Mother Tongue-Based Multi-Lingual Education (MTB-MLE) Program; and the KWF's publication of Atlas ng mga Wika ng Filipinas that archives the various native languages of the country, and the Pambansang Summit sa Wika ng Kalikasan at Kaligtasan event.

"It is imperative that we continue to conduct programs and create projects that would promote, enhance and preserve our native languages and dialects. This is one of the important gifts that we can give to future Filipinos," Legarda pointed out.

"As an offshoot of this docu-series, our local governments can even create Usapang Wika language tours to include discussions on how their language started and was embraced by the community in order to enrich the knowledge of our youth, students and tourists," she adds.

The ten episodes of 'Usapang Wika' will showcase the history, literary works and evolution of each of the major languages.

It is set to air every Saturday starting August 6, at 4:30 to 5 pm via ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), coinciding with the celebration of Buwan ng Wikang Filipino.