Taglish: A ‘language’ that’s neither here nor there

Ana Marie Pamintuan’s Sketches column last week regarding the deterioration of the use of the English language in this country inspired me to do this piece and prompted me to find out if local television should also take the blame for the emergence of this new "language" that’s neither here nor there: Taglish.

In the 1960s, people in front of the camera spoke either straight Tagalog or straight English. Among the English-speaking television hosts then were June Keithley of Lollipop Party, Pete Roa and Boots Anson in Dance-O-Rama, Baby O’Brien in The Baby O’Brien Show, Jimmy Melendrez and Fides Santos Cuyugan Asensio (when they were not singing) in Sunday, Sweet Sunday, Elvira Manahan and Eddie Mercado in Two for the Road, Joey Lardizabal in The Morning Show and, of course, Bob Stewart who was then all over Channel 7.

Tasked to do their hosting in the national language were Patsy and Lopito in Tawag ng Tanghalan and Pepe Pimentel and Dely Magpayo in Hamon sa Kampeon.

I do not know about Patsy and Lopito (I never got to meet them), but Pepe Pimentel and Dely Magpayo also have a good command of the King’s Language. Mr. Pimentel, however, only had the chance to speak English every time he had to host beauty pageants like the Miss Asia Quest, but never in Hamon sa Kampeon or in his other program, Kuwarta O Kahon. (Pepe Pimentel, incidentally, also speaks elegant Spanish, which his family spoke in their old San Juan home).

Back then, viewers who had pretensions of having "class" would not be caught watching Dely Magpayo in Hamon sa Kampeon. The convent-bred in those days (when not glued to canned American programs) watched and listened only to Leila Benitez, who spoke perfect English.

Those who watched television programs conducted in the vernacular belonged to the bakya crowd (coined to described moviegoers in the lower class because they mostly went to see Tagalog pictures in downtown theaters wearing wooden shoes or bakya). The term baduy was not even in use then.

The only time English and Tagalog were mixed – but never in the same sentence – were in those noontime shows.

In Magandang Tanghali, main host Pancho Magalona delivered most of his spiels in English because he is from the South and was not really all that proficient in Tagalog. (Amazingly, he managed to excel as an actor in Tagalog pictures.) But the other mainstays of the program were Teroy de Guzman, Cachupoy and Babalu and these comedians were more comfortable speaking in the local tongue.

When ABS-CBN, however, later launched Stop, Look & Listen, the scenario became like the Tower of Babel with some of the hosts speaking in English (Tina Revilla, Jay Ilagan, etc.) and the rest in Tagalog (Nova Villa, Carina Afable, etc.).

When 12 O’clock High replaced Stop, Look & Listen in 1972, the noontime slot of ABS-CBN geared more toward the middle to upper middle class because the hosts, Tina Revilla, Ariel Ureta and Marilen Martinez, conversed mostly in English. It was only Ariel, in fact, who would sporadically break into Filipino, especially when he was cracking jokes on air.

Actually, I would like to think it was Ariel who introduced Taglish on local television (or was at least among the pioneers).

Then, Martial Law was declared and the late President Ferdinand Marcos created the so-called New Society, which eventually became Bagong Lipunan when the medium of communication tried to shift from English to Filipino.

In school, some subjects were taught in Filipino. Social Studies became Araling Panlipunan, for instance.

On television, there was the New Society program Pulong-pulong sa Kaunlaran, which was aired in all networks and conducted in straight Filipino by anchorman Gerry Geronimo.

Strangely enough, the government-controlled station Channel 9 didn’t broadcast its new program, Newswatch (with Harry Gasser) in Filipino (although at some time – and this was much later – there was a Newswatch in Filipino edition).

Ariel Ureta’s career, however, survived Martial Law. At that point, in fact, he was the Number One star on television and later, even in the movies (he made a couple of blockbuster hits). He popularized the term "Ang gleng-gleng," which was picked up by a lot of young TV viewers.

In Noontime Matinee on Channel 7, here’s a sample of his repartee with Tina Revilla and guest co-host June Keithley:

Ariel: O, Tina, you look so ganda today.

Tina: I’m not really feeling well today. I feel sick. (Jokingly) Sick and tired of Ariel.

June: In that case, it’s me and Ariel na lang who will do the show. You go away na.

Ariel: But even if she’s may sakit, ‘no, she’s ganda pa din, di ba?

June: Sayang. You didn’t see her in the fashion show in Malacañang last night. Tina was modeling and the other models made apak-apak on her cape.

This was in early 1973. Back then, Taglish was already alive and well on local TV.