Get Rid Of The "Ayaw Ko Ng Ingles" Culture In The Philippines

In the past, the Philippines used to be known for quality English because it was once an American colony during the Commonwealth Period. On July 4, 1946 we saw the Philippines become a truly independent republic. Sad to say but the Philippines has already lost its edge with Filipinos who were once known to speak English well in all of Asia. In the past, a lot of Asians had a hard time with English and Filipinos were able to beat them and it created a competitive advantage for the Philippines where neighboring countries will go to study in the Philippines to learn better English. 

The problem soon escalated with my best estimate - during the term of the late Corazon Aquino. While I wouldn't call the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. a hero but he used English more than Tagalog. After the fall of the Marcos Years the Imperial Manila system got further developed. The whole revolution of ultranationalism became a bigger issue. Even before that, we've had the late Carlos P. Garcia who advocated for the "Filipino First" policy. Unfortunately, the continued use of the "Filipino First" policy hasn't helped the Philippines but it led to failure instead. Today, that has also caused the rise of the phenomenon of Tagalistas or the Elite Tagalog mentality.

The result of the rise of the Elite Tagalog Mentality led to a deterioration of the quality of English among Filipinos. Many of them decide that in the name of nationalism that Tagalog must be prioritized over English. As a result, it has led to to the "Ayaw Ko Ng Ingles" or "I hate English" culture in the Philippines. What's noticeable that a lot of Filipinos can't even get their everyday English done right because of too much priority over Tagalog. Like, did I ever tell you that local networks are now dubbing almost every foreign show in Tagalog? While I can understand that non-English foreign shows get dubbed in Tagalog but why dub all the English shows in Tagalog? That has greatly compromised the quality of Filipino English. It's like Carabao English has become more recognized than properly spoken English in the Philippines.

What makes these Elite Tagalistas annoying is that they have their high pride in their Tagalog. They mock anyone who can't speak Tagalog properly. Worse, they have this habit of saying, "Ano? Hindi ka makaintindi ng Tagalog? Pa-Ingles Ingles ka pa?!" which is translated as, "What? You can't understand Tagalog? You're always speaking in English!" All the while, they may be shouting, "PENOY PRAYD!" to any Filipino who wins a singing contest abroad (then maybe flip their stance if it wasn't a Tagalog Pinoy) or enjoy music by Filipino artists which are in English, watching concerts by Filipino artists rendered mostly in English, they're reading from instruction manuals written in English or they may be watching imported shows for all we know. I mean, those idiots shouldn't be acting like they aren't using anything that's not born out of foreign influence or anything that's not Filipino made. Like let me ask me ask them again when you were installing your appliances at home were the instruction manuals primarily written in Tagalog or in English?

Some of them tend to say, "Well we're not America or England." all the while, many of them continue to brag that OFWs are the new heroes. It's hypocritical considering this fact. Didn't they say they wanted to uphold the Tagalista mentality? Since many of them think that foreigners are evil then shouldn't they return back to work in the Philippines and not in a foreign land? They can go ahead and say that they're working in other countries in act of  "invading" other countries in an act of conquest for Imperial Manila. In reality, OFWs bow down before a foreign boss on a foreign land while foreign investment in the Philippines means bowing down a foreign boss who's under the control of their land. Also, don't they even realize that when they go to work as OFWs that they are the foreigners in other countries? Don't tell me that Filipinos aren't foreigners in other countries? What? Is the world only meant to be occupied by Filipinos and everyone who's not a Filipino is a foreigner? That's just idiotic in several levels because if they say they hate foreigners but aren't they foreigners in other people's countries? Well go back to the Philippines where they are not foreigners. 

Like it or not, the Philippines' problem is not only because it adheres to the fantasy of self-industrialization but also it refuses to fix those language barriers between them and other nations. Whether you like it or not the world doesn't speak Tagalog. Today's prevalent languages are now English and Mandarin. It's high time to prioritize English over Tagalog and start offering alternative foreign language courses. As said enough is enough! Tama na! Why are we sacrificing English just to uphold the Tagalista mentality which won't help Filipinos in the international community? Don't expect foreigners to learn Tagalog just for the Tagalistas. No, while some of them may want to learn to speak Tagalog as another language but they don't need it. Filipinos need to polish their English and learn some other widely used foreign languages as part of educational reform.