Netizens flag incorrect Baybayin characters in UST campus street signs

Internet users called out what appeared as incorrect use of Baybayin characters in the street signs within the University of Santo Tomas campus in España Boulevard, Manila. 

The Flame, the official student publication of UST’s Faculty of Art and Letters, posted photos of the newly installed signages in the corners of the campus. 

However, many netizens pointed out that the supposed Baybayin translation of the campus roads was done letter by letter. 

Baybayin is a Philippine script that consists of 17 letters — three vowels and 14 consonants. Each consonant comes with a vowel. 

The Flame later reported that the street signs were removed as they were only “prototypes”  and were only installed by the Facilities Management Office (FMO) to see how they would look in posts; this was confirmed by Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean Melanie Turingan to GMA News Online. 

Turingan, who helped with the Baybayin translations, said that the FMO consulted with the faculty to check their translations of the controversial street signs. 

“In all fairness, they went to consult with our faculty to check on the translation they created. We are still in the consultation process,” she said in an email. 

“Yes, we informed them on the ways on how Baybayin should be spelled out. And even offered our assistance in creating one if they have difficulty.” 

GMA News Online reached out to the UST FMO for comment. 

Mathematicians from the University of the Philippines recently developed an AI-powered system that can translate the Baybayin writing system into Latin-character or understandable text.—LDF, GMA Integrated News