Now, you probably knew all this. But did you know that there is also a Cebuano version?

The Cebuano Wikipedia already has more than two hundred articles, and is projected to reach 1,000 by the end of this year. Wa'y Blima! came across Vincent "Bentong" Isles, a teacher in Cebu City who is not just a regular contributor, but who initiated the project and got it off the ground. It seems like a lot of work to be doing for free, but Bentong is clearly happy to do it because he is a true believer. He freely admits to being an activist against the dominance of the Tagalog language, but not all members share his beliefs.

It's all very fascinating, so we were delighted when Bentong obliged us with an interview.

How old are you? Or is that confidential?

I've just turned 22 (but I look 40 ;-).

What made you decide to embark on this project? Were you a user of the English-language Wikipedia?

I had minimal knowledge of the English wikipedia back then. I even thought that the "en" in http://en.wikipedia.org/ does not mean anything at all! Then I realized that a Tagalog wikipedia exists, which made me envious, so I learned how to propose one and now its running.

Congrats. How many of you are there? And you did you manage to get them involved?

Well, I think only five or six users there have been informed of the project's presence formally. That is to say they know it because I posted something about it in the forum I am in. The others (17 others!) came into the project by accident. In terms of publicity, the Wikipedia is really low. People just doesn't know it exists. I have written about it in BISAYA Magasin, but the target audience of BISAYA are older folks, so I think the article had minimal impact.

Can you tell me about your motivation for doing all that work for free?

It is just the thought that you are doing something worthwhile and giving it to the world. And much more than that feeling of doing something worthwhile is the fact that I view the Cebuano wikipedia as one arrow against the imposition of Tagalog in my country. It is but one small step in the shaping of the Cebuano identity which has been eroded by decades of Tagalog monoculturalism.

There is a lot of hidden resentment against the Tagalog language in Cebu, but few try to do something about it. Are there any other activists amongst the Wikipedia contributors?

As far I know, only Harvsz (the one who contributed the most) is another anti-Tagalog activist. One user <Edgar_Godin> is the editor of a national Cebuano magazine.

How do you plan to tackle the issue of a lack of standardized spelling for Cebuano?

We do have standard spellings. In fact, we have so many that it is a problem to decide whom to follow. As for the Cebuano wiki community, it is an unwritten rule that we follow the spelling system recognized by BISAYA Magasin with minor adaptations (esp. in the PAGKA and TAGA prefixes).

What is the main problem with a Wiki project?

The fact that not one person controls everything! I once spent a day editing one user's idiosyncracy of using 'na' instead of 'nga' but I just gave it up!

Those who would work ;) Just an article a day would do. We even accept stubs. ;)

And there you have it. For your information, a "stub" is a snippet of information at the Wikipedia that doesn't quite make a full article, but might eventually become one. If you are a Cebuano and can string a sentence or two together, head to the Wikipedia and start adding articles.