THE Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) has faced withering public criticism after it gave six of its own commissioners the "Kampeon ng Wika" award. Announced on Aug. 18, 2026, this board decision has been criticized as self-serving and unethical as it contradicts the KWF's traditional recognition of champions of the Filipino language.
The KWF, established on Aug. 14,1991, through Republic Act 7104, is mandated to develop, preserve and promote Filipino and other Philippine languages. The awarding of the "Kampeon ng Wika" took place during the KWF Gabi ng Parangal on Aug. 27.
The KWF gave awards to the following commissioners: Benjamin Mendillo Jr. (Ilocano), Carmelita Abdurahman (Samar-Leyte), Alain Russ Dimzon (Hiligaynon), Christian Aguado (Pamayanang Kultural ng Katimugang Pilipinas), Reggie Cruz (Kapampangan) and Evelyn Oliquino (Bikol). The three other commissioners wisely avoided giving awards to themselves out of “delicadeza.”
Because of the backlash, other commissioners chose not to accept the award. Only two — Benjamin Mendillo Jr. and Carmelita Abdurahman — remain listed as recipients.
Veteran screenwriter Jerry Gracio, a former KWF commissioner, expressed concerns about the self-award aspect, questioning its ethical implications and potential self-serving motives. Despite the lack of explicit rules against self-awards, Gracio and other observers raised concerns about the award’s legitimacy and delicacy. The KWF's internal reaction to the decision was reportedly negative. They just kept quiet, afraid of being dragged into a court case.
“What could be more vulgar than public officials using a public institution, public resources and a public award to honor themselves?” said Nikko Miguel Garcia, a columnist for an online publication.
It’s an unusual move for a recognition meant for individuals, institutions, or groups that helped in the development and preservation of Filipino and other Philippine languages, in different disciplines.
Previous recipients include people with towering reputations: National Artists Resil Mojares and Nora Aunor, as well as writers and scholars such as Merlie Alunan, Alicia Magos, Leoncio Deriada, Eliza Uy-Grino, Galileo Zafra, Mario Miclat and Michael Coroza. Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, priests Immanuel Sison Escano and Wilmer Joseph Tria of Ateneo de Naga University, and the Muntinlupa government have also received the award.
Nothing in the KWF rules prohibits commissioners from becoming Kampeon ng Wika. But that begs the question: Why would an award-giving body choose to award its own members? Gracio had the same question, but said in his trademark bluntness: “They were just lifting their own benches.”
Gracio also posted a series of messages on Aug. 19: “Not illegal but we know there’s no sense of delicacy among those who did this.” He laid out the absurdity of it all, similar to a Franz Kafka story: “Who’ll give the awards? You. Who’ll sign it? You. Who’ll congratulate you? You. Who’ll say you’re good? You.”
The Kampeon ng Wika doesn’t come with a cash prize, but it’s a government-funded program. Precious taxpayers’ money will go toward the plaques, awards night, event production and administrative work. Important, too, is the time that could have been better spent in doing worthwhile projects to help develop our languages.
The optics were hard to defend outside the agency. Louie Jon Sánchez, a UP College of Media and Communication professor and three-time KWF Makata ng Taon, likened the move to Napoleon Bonaparte crowning himself emperor in 1804. He noted that it was done “at our expense as taxpayers,” noting that the commissioners’ “dignity has been submerged in floodwaters.”
Sociopolitical columnist Tonyo Cruz, meanwhile, said the KWF had no shortage of people more deserving, pointing to Filipinos in the country and abroad. He called the KWF’s decision a “travesty” of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and possibly “abuse of power.”
Cruz offered other names that the KWF could’ve considered. Among them: Andrei Clyde Chua Arellano, who wrote the first mathematics thesis at UP Diliman in Filipino; the International Criminal Court, which appointed Filipino and Cebuano interpreters for the trial of former president Rodrigo Duterte; and retired Court of Appeals associate justice Apolinario Bruselas Jr. and Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, who have written decisions in Filipino.
The KWF has long toiled with a small budget and a big mandate. The present commissioners can learn from the tenure of National Artist Virgilio Almario, who translated and published foreign books into Filipino and uploaded a massive Filipino dictionary online for free, among others.
Ironically, the award was announced on the day Metro Manila was flooded by the unseasonal “habagat.” But by then, a flood called narcissism was already submerging the KWF.
