San Francisco, California – Not all Filipinos are happy with the announcement by Mayor Ed Lee that Tagalog  has been added to the shortlist of languages that will be included in official documents in the city and country of San Francisco. The other “official languages” are English, Spanish and Chinese. San Francisco informational brochures and application forms for various services are available in these official languages.

A coalition of Ilocano-speaking Filipinos protested yesterday’s announcement, claiming that there are more Ilocano-speaking Filipinos than there are Tagalog speakers in San Francisco.  Ilocano is the predominant dialect in many provinces of the Northern Luzon region of the Philippines. The late President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.  was Ilocano.

Filipinos living in Hawaii expressed their full support for the protest. Ilocanos are the predominant Filipino residents of Hawaii. Many public signage in Hawaii are written in Ilocano.

The San Francisco issue has become more controversial as a group of Kapampangan-speaking Filipinos joined in the protest demanding that their dialect be included as well as an official language.  Kapampangan is the dialect spoken in a huge province of Northern Luzon, Pampanga, where former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her late father, Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal, hail from.

Mayor Ed Lee has not returned calls for comment from The Adobo Chronicles.