The Abakada alphabet is an indigenized

Indigenization

In anthropological terms, to "indigenize" means to force local cultures to adopt another. Most changes in original culture occur when western corporations impose their products on other economies, Westernizing. Some forms of indigenizing include: Spray painting slogans on bill-boards, interpreting...

 Latin alphabet of the Tagalog

Tagalog language

Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...

 language of the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. The alphabet, which contains 20 letters

Letter (alphabet)

A letter is a grapheme in an alphabetic system of writing, such as the Greek alphabet and its descendants. Letters compose phonemes and each phoneme represents a phone in the spoken form of the language....

, was created by Lope K. Santos

Lope K. Santos

Lope K. Santos was a Tagalog language writer from the Philippines. Aside from being a writer, he was also a lawyer, politician, critic, labor leader and considered as "Father of the Filipino Grammar". He was a freemason....

 in 1940. The alphabet was officially adopted by the Institute of National Language  for Filipino

Filipino language

This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...

. See Filipino alphabet

Filipino alphabet

The Modern Filipino alphabet , otherwise known as the Filipino alphabet , is the alphabet of the Filipino language, the official national language and one of the two official languages of the Philippines...

.

During the Pre-Hispanic Era, Old Tagalog

Tagalog language

Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...

 was written using the Kawi or the Baybayin

Baybayin

Baybayin , is a pre-Spanish Philippine writing system. It is a member of the Brahmic family and is recorded as being in use in the 16th century...

 script. Dr. José Rizal

José Rizal

José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...

, the national hero of the Philippines, initially suggested to indigenize the alphabet of the Philippine languages by replacing the letters C and Q with K.