Pilipinas Got Talent became more and more trending as the judges spiced up their comments to their contestants. Each season of the reality competition, applicants from all over the world forwarded their application for an audition to the event. If they got a callback, they will be presenting their chosen creative performance in front of the screening staff before they are considered an official contestant on the reality show. This reality-based talent competition attracts foreigners to apply as a competitor due to their love for the Philippines. The question is, will foreigners need to learn the Tagalog language?

This was the issue that was blasted by Pilipinas Got Talent judge Robin Padilla. On January 13 episode of the talent show, Robin Padilla "forced" a Korean National to speak Tagalog. Contestant Kim Ji-Wan requested Robin to assist him with his card trick. However, Robin declined because he wants Kim to speak in Tagalog. He indicated that foreigners should learn how to speak Tagalog. This is because they are currently staying in the Philippines that is why it is important to understand the national language of the country. Robin Padilla's actions generated a heated discussion amongst netizens through a variety of social media websites.
Robin Padilla on left and Pia Wurtzbach on right
Pilipinas Got Talent is a reality-based talent competition that is held in the Philippines. The show is a franchise of ABS-CBN Network from the original Got Talent show in Great Britain. The competition is now in its sixth season, hoping to select the best candidate with the superb talent and become the newest talented celebrity in the country.

Netizens who were watching the show online were quick to express their reactions towards Padilla's actions towards the foreigner. There were some disappointments wherein his actions were regarded racist and rude towards the Korean contestant. The celebrity judge of Pilipinas Got Talent did not show signs of any remorse over his recent controversial statement towards the foreigner contestant from South Korea. On his Instagram account, he indicated that why should he be the one to adjust to a foreigner who only stayed here in our country for 10 years. His comment generated another reaction from the netizens, voicing out their frustrations over his side of the controversy.

On the other side of the issue, there are other netizens that consider Robin's actions to have a full sense. This is pertaining to our his protective reaction to our country's nationalism. His patriotic stance towards the foreigners indicates that we should also consider taking our culture's pride and to be proud of who we are. In this sense, Robin's reaction is an example of how a person is patriotic to his country and to the Filipino constituents. Filipino nationalists praised Robin's actions for being brave enough to defend his country's patriotism. Many are now asking, should foreigners who are currently staying in the Philippines learn the Tagalog language?

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WATCH: Do you Agree what Robin Padilla says that Foreigners in the Philippines should speak Tagalog?



What is the Tagalog Language? In the Philippines, Tagalog is the official national language. The term Tagalog came from "Taga-Ilog", which means people from the rivers. The language derived from the Philippine ancestors living in the Southern Tagalog region including the National Capital Region. During the ancient times, Manila has already considered the center of trade and commerce hundreds of years ago. People in Manila already used Tagalog as their regional language. Tagalog is spoken by more than 100 million individuals around the world.


Pageant lovers and organizers will surely indicate this question to a local pageant in the Philippines. They will surely ask candidates during the question and answer round if foreigners should learn the Tagalog language. The reason behind is that Tagalog is one of the keys to communicating with the locals in the Philippines despite from being known as one of the largest English speaking countries in the world.

This symbol of patriotism is not only concentrated to Robin's recent controversy. Countries around the world show a similar treatment towards foreigners visiting their lands. For example, learning in Nihonggo is a must before going to Japan. This is as well learning the German language is important when coming to Germany. And learning the Spanish language is important when traveling to Latin American countries are promulgated by their own countries to foreigners.

So the question is, should foreigners in the Philippines learn the Tagalog language?

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