Project Saysay introduces new motto
In line with its sixth anniversary celebration, Project Saysay has introduced a new motto that reflects the aims and activities of the organization.
Starting 11 June, the Project Saysay has been using the motto “May saysay ang kasaysayan” with its English version “We find examples in history.” It will replace the previous motto “Palaganapin ang diwa’t aral ng mga dakilang Pilipino” (Spread the ideals and values of great Filipinos).
This is the third motto of the organization, the first being “Dalhin sa silid-aralan ang mga aral ng dakilang Pilipino” (Bring the ideals of great Filipinos in classrooms), used from May 2013 to June 2017.
The new motto was inspired by a sentence in a 21 July 1898 letter of diplomat Felipe Agoncillo to Apolinario Mabini from Hong Kong. Project Saysay discovered the letter in one of the documents in the Philippine Revolutionary Records in the National Library of the Philippines.
The motto reflects the expanding activities and projects of Project Saysay from mere distribution of prints featuring the ideals and values of great Filipinos.
The new motto was also translated into other Philippine languages: “May pulos ang kasaysayan” in Hiligaynon, “May madman ha kasaysayan” in Waray, “Igwang bansay sa pagsaysay” in Bicol, and “Atin yang ulaga ing kasalesayan” in Kapampangan.
The regional translations were made upon consultation with Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino Commissioner Jerry Gracio for Binisaya/Waray, University of the Philippines Visayas History Professor Ruchie Mark Potototanon for Hiligaynon, playwright and Ateneo de Naga University Press book designer Victor Dennis Nierva for Bicol, and poet and University of the Assumptions Librarian Roilingel Calilung for Kapampangan. Also consulted for the Filipino translation was poet and Philippine High School for the Arts Director Victor Emmanuel “Vim” Nadera and historian and De La Salle University History Professor Xiao Chua.
