Welcome to Taglish

Hey everyone, I’m Jason and founder of taglish.com.

I’ve wanted to create a space where I can highlight and share the beauty that is the Filipino-American experience. I just didn’t know how to go about doing it. For years, I’ve been on a quest to understand and explore my Filipino roots. I searched and realized most of our stories are scattered. I wanted to change all that and give us a platform.

The platform is Taglish.

I felt using “Taglish” was a great way to highlight the uniqueness of the Filipino-American experience. Taglish is the term used for the unique language that has evolved over the decades in the Philippines. It’s a combination of Tagalog, Spanish, and American English words.

But for me, I saw Taglish as a term to encapsulate the Fil-Am voices in America.

Now, I’m going to admit I don’t know how to speak Tagalog or Taglish, although I understand it completely and growing my ability to speak it every single day.

My hope for this website is to highlight the untold stories of everyday Filipino-Americans. We are everywhere, yet we’re a very underrepresented group in mainstream media, entertainment, politics, sports, business, and more.

Filipino-Americans have a long and storied history in the US dating back to the first Filipinos who jumped off the Spanish ships to escape indentured servitude in Los Angeles and New Orleans before the 13 American colonies existed.

Many don’t know Filipinos held the unique status of US Nationals from 1899-1945. Or the Filipinos who pledged allegiance to the US Constitution and served under American generals during WW II. And many don’t know about Larry Itliong, who started Delano Grape Strike, which is part of the story of the United Farm Workers of Cesar Chavez.

My idea, for now, is to just share amazing stories of Fil-Ams with a passion to inspire and uplift and connect us together. My purpose to have better representation in media, business, community, and politics.

So, I have creative ideas for where I want to take Taglish.com. My goal is to cover culture, identity, food, music, business, career, history, media, and more.

I hope you follow along on this journey and share your stories with me. I am looking for contributors. So if you’re a writer, podcaster, YouTuber, social media influencer, business owner, or someone who wants to share your understanding and experience, send a message to: submit.taglish@gmail.com.

You can learn more about who I am on my personal website, jasonvitug.com.