MANILA—Under the "Special Programme in Foreign Language," to be implemented in the school year starting in June, Spanish will be taught at key high schools to "prepare the students for meaningful interaction in a linguistically diverse global workplace," Lapus said.

"It will also develop understanding and appreciation of other people's culture," he added.

The language will be taught only in special classes at schools whose students have mastered English and shown an ability to learn another foreign language, he said.

In 1987 the Philippines, a former colony of Spain, abolished Spanish as one of its official languages as well as a requirement that college students had learn it.

The language has since largely vanished from everyday use, with English and the local languages now commonly used.

AFP/Expatica