Baybayin Fonts and Typography: Mangyan Postma Font

Friday, August 12, 2011

Mangyan Postma Font

Mr. Antoon Vreeze Postma is a Dutch anthropologist and linguist who has married into and has been living for more than fifty years among the Hanunuo Mangyan tribe in Mindoro, Philippines. He is best known for being the first to decipher the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, and for documenting the Hanunóo script, paving the way for its preservation. He is the founder of the Mangyan Research Center in Panaytayan, Mansalay, Mr. Postma is in charge of the (MHC) Mangyan Heritage Center's research operations. His collection forms the bulk of the materials in the MHC library.

I visited the MHC in my home town of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, last year (August 2010). I purchased several of Postma's books and watched how they still use handwriting to record and catalog Ambahan poetry and other learning materials. I showed Mrs. Emily Lorenzo Catapang (Executive Director of MHC) how to instal and use Mangyan fonts on their computers so that they can have a modern alternative way of publishing materials. I promised to continue developing and perfecting fonts for Surat Mangyan for the very purpose of propagating and preserving the written cultural heritage of the Mangyan.

This new font was inspired by Postma's works. Baybayin Mangyan Postma Type has bold and uniform strokes best suited for posters and other print. This font is based on one of Postma's book cover art.

New Mangyan Font: