Baybayin is an ancient script used in the Philippines before Spanish colonization. It is an alphasyllabary, meaning each character represents a consonant followed by a vowel. The script consists of 17 basic characters, which can be modified with diacritics to change vowel sounds. This writing system was primarily used for personal communication, poetry, and record-keeping. Although it declined during the Spanish era, Baybayin has seen a revival in recent years, with efforts to promote its cultural significance and encourage its use in modern Filipino identity.