More than 109 million people of the 7,641-island Philippines speak about 187 recognized native languages and dialects. Waray (wah-ri) is the fifth widely spoken after Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Cebuano, and Tagalog. The standardized Tagalog dubbed Pilipino along with English are the official languages.
Efforts to integrate the indigenous languages into a unified Filipino lingua franca behind the campaign to revive the ancient Baybayin system of writing could eventually absorb and render less spoken indigenous dialects extinct. The author feels obliged to write his mother tongue for his grandchildren, share with the present Waray-speaking generation and the rest of the world this well-studied and fascinating language to learn.