No less than the country's first monolingual dictionary—that can now be accessed online—describes the late president Ferdinand Marcos as a dictator, offering defense against anyone questioning the "fairness" of the word's common use.
In its definition of "diktador", the Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, whose website was launched Thursday by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, says, "si dating pangulong Marcos ay isang diktador."
It is one of the 33,834 Filipinos words in the dictionary's latest edition, compiled by the Linangan ng mga Wika sa Pilipinas. The commission said the online launch was to further improve, promote, and preserve Filipino and the country's many other languages, as granted by Republic Act 7104.
The dictionary's content is continuously being updated to keep up with the times, even accomodating words that have no direct translation in Tagalog, as well as foreign words that have been assimilated in the Filipino language, it said.
"Sa hulí, nananawagan ang Komisyón sa Wíkang Filipíno sa lahat na magpadala ng mga puna at mungkahi upang higit na matugunan ang pangangailangan at maging kapaki-pakinabang ang diksiyonaryong ito para iba't ibang larangan ng pamumuhay sa lipunang Pilipino, kasabay ng di mapipigilang pagsulong ng wikang Filipino," it said.
ALSO READ:
Those Marcos Videos on TikTok are Rooted in Decades of Misinformation
Dear Toni, We Didn't Live Through Marcos Years and Our Anger is Valid
Haters Gonna Hate, Bongbong for President Seeks to Revive Marcos Name