I admire King Sejong the Great’s phonetic script, his logical design, and, above all, his driving purpose: universal education and communication. Why should a nation’s writing system be difficult and imperfect? A people’s script should naturally mirror how words actually sound, rather than bending to rigid rules that fail to capture real speech.

While the 200-plus Austronesian Philippine languages and dialects are officially written in the Latin alphabet, it fundamentally fails to capture our rich phonetic landscape.

Because of this mismatch, we constantly clash over spelling. We mock those whose pronunciations vary from “official” rules. We run spelling bees that crown a single standard while labeling natural regional variations as “wrong”. We silently police the barrier between formal, educated speech and casual, colloquial language. Is it kumusta or kamusta? Is one inherently more educated? Is lalaki superior simply because a textbook declared it the standard, relegating lalake to the streets?

This is where 수랕 이나와 (Surat Inawa) steps in. Built upon the pure phonetic alphabet created by King Sejong, it adapts his foundational genius to our unique needs. I have kept this system as faithful as possible to the original Sejonggeul (Sejong script), making only logical modifications tailored explicitly to our native languages. I truly believe King Sejong would smile upon this system and say, 「A job well done, my friend from a faraway place!」

A Note to Students

I am not a linguist, but I committed myself to thorough research of King Sejong's script and our own native languages. Is it perfect? Is my knowledge complete? Of course not, and I would never entertain such a presumptuous thought. Still, I believe this is a very good start on the long road toward official adoption.

I hope you find joy in learning this system as much as I enjoyed working on it. This project belongs to all my fellow Filipinos. Through it, may we find greater unity and strength as one people.

Finally, I offer my deepest gratitude and honor to King Sejong the Great for creating the best and truly universal phonetic alphabet in history. Long live the king! Manse!