Letter From Manila

Tattoos, street signs, artworks: Filipinos devise ways to make ancient Baybayin script cool again

A Baybayin-inspired mural in Baguio city by calligrapher Taipan Lucero, who is known for combining the ancient script with elements of traditional Filipino culture. PHOTO: COURTESY OF TAIPAN LUCERO
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MANILA – It was on Facebook that online clothes seller Rosemalynne Delos Santos discovered her love for Baybayin, the ancient writing system used by her Filipino ancestors.

Ms Delos Santos, 40, said Baybayin was never taught to her in school, so she scoured the Internet for people who could help her read and write the way ancient Filipinos did. She wanted to teach it to her son, Travis.

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