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Legislature advances bills to establish Mother Language Day and update Chamorro orthography in law
Summary
The Legislature moved Bill 1 29–38 COR (establishing February 21 as Mother Language Day) and Bill 1 30–38 COR (updating Chamorro orthography and renaming holiday observances) to the voting file. Sponsors and cultural leaders argued the measures support language revitalization and align Guam with international efforts.
The Guam Legislature advanced two bills on the floor that supporters say will strengthen the visibility and legal recognition of the Chamorro language.
Bill 1 29–38 COR, introduced by Senator Shelley B. Calvo, would establish February 21 of each year as Sa'anen Hilañña (Mother Language Day) in Guam by adding a new section to Chapter 10, Title 1 of the Guam Code Annotated. The bill's committee report was amended on the floor to make the governor's issuance of an annual proclamation permissive rather than mandatory and to allow the Chamorro-language commission flexibility to plan events "in collaboration with other community partners and according to available capacity," language the sponsor said reflects operational realities.
Bill 1 30–38 COR, also sponsored by Senator Calvo, would adopt standardized CHAMORRO orthography in statutes, rename "Guam Discovery Day" as "Guam History and Chamorro Heritage Day," and expand the existing Chamorro Week observance into a designated Mes Chamorro (Chamorro Month). The sponsor said the measure corrects inconsistent spellings and codifies terms that community organizations and schools already use in practice.
Nut graf: Supporters — including educators, the Chamorro-language commission, and the principal of a Chamorro immersion charter school — argued the bills will help preserve Ifånu Chamorro, align Guam with UNESCO's International Mother Language Day and the U.N. Decade of Indigenous Languages, and provide greater visibility for language-revitalization efforts without creating new spending mandates.
On the floor, the sponsor read and moved to append written testimony from Anna Marie B. Arceo, COO and principal of Magalahin Hurao Chamorro Academy Charter School, which urged passage and described orthography and place-name restoration as acts of cultural survival. Arceo's written submission said, "This legislation is not just a policy decision. It is an act of cultural survival and justice... I urge you to pass these bills and stand on the right side of history for our people, our language, and the generations to come." (Anna Marie B. Arceo)
Multiple senators rose in support and asked to be added as cosponsors; the floor recorded no roll-call objections when each bill was moved to the voting file. The motions to place Bill 1 29–38 COR on the voting file and to place Bill 1 30–38 COR on the third-reading/voting file passed without objection as recorded in the transcript. The sponsor said neither bill creates a holiday nor mandates new expenditures; rather, both measures aim to elevate the language through proclamation, observance, education, and statutory corrections.
Ending: The measures will appear on the Legislature's voting files for final consideration. Supporters urged continued work with the Chamorro-language commission and education partners to follow the statutory changes with programs and materials to increase use and intergenerational transmission of Ifånu Chamorro.
