Spanish was the official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish rule in the late 16th century, through the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in 1898. It remained, along with English, as co-official language until 1987. It was at first removed in 1973 by a constitutional change, but after a few months it was re-designated an official language by presidential decree and remained official until 1987, with the present Constitution re-designating it instead as an "optional and voluntary language".[1][2]
Philippine Spanish (Spanish: Español filipino, Castellano filipino) is a variant of standard Spanish, spoken in the Philippines by a minority today, though it was quite widespread up to the early 20th century. The variant is very similar to Mexican Spanish, because the Philippines was ruled from New Spain in present-day Mexico, for over three centuries. During that period, there was much Spanish and Mexican emigration to the Spanish East Indies.
It was the language of the Philippine Revolution and the country's first official language, as proclaimed in the Malolos Constitution of the First Philippine Republic in 1899. It was the language of commerce, law, politics and the arts during the colonial period and well into the 20th century. It was the main language of many classical writers and Ilustrados such as Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Antonio Luna and Marcelo del Pilar, to name but a few. It is regulated by the Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española, the main Spanish-language regulating body in the Philippines, and a member of the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, the entity which regulates the Spanish language worldwide.
