Bicol poet and cultural advocate Victor Dennis Nierva has been posting his translations of the Department of Health (DOH) coronavirus-related bulletins via his Facebook page “Magbikol Kita” (“Let’s use Bicol”) almost on a daily basis since March 12. There are so many individuals talking from the government—from the President, to the spokesperson, to the DOH, to everyone,” he said partly in Tagalog. People have been reposting whatever they see on social media,” Nierva said. Nierva began translating the social media posts by the DOH to Bicol after he read comments from netizens requesting that the information be translated to their regional languages so they could understand them better. Nierva has been translating the information to Central Bicol, a language spoken as the mother tongue of some 4 million people in the region.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 15, 2020 21:33 UTC