MANILA, Philippines- After making negative remarks on the use of “Tagalog” language during the second round of presidential debate held at UP Cebu on Sunday, March 20, former Makati solon and broadcast journalist Teodoro “Teddy” Locsin Jr. created a firestorm on Twitter.

Photo Credit: Teddy Locsin Jr. Instagram
Photo Credit: Teddy Locsin Jr. Instagram
Locsin, in a series of tweets, described the exchange between Liberal party bet and former DILG chief Manuel “Mar Roxas” II and Senator Grace Poe as “lousy” since they used “too much Tagalog.”


On his Twitter account, he wrote: “Tagalog should be discouraged. So long, so bullshi***, so useless a tongue for debate.”


Describing Roxas and Poe as “masters of the civilized English”, Locsin pointed out that the two presidential candidates should have used the English language during their discourse. He added that tagalog language is “inappropriate” for a debate.


After posting a series of controversial tweets, “Teddy Locsin" emerged as a trending topic on the microblogging site and was accused by netizens as “anti-Filipino” and “elitist”.

Alyansa ng mga Tagapagtanggol ng Wika (Tanggol Wika), an alliance composed of professors, lawmakers, artists from over 70 colleges and universities, wants Locsin to apologize for “belittling and insulting” the national language.

According to Tanggol Wika, the government-organized presidential debate should be in Filipino since it is the language of 99 percent of Filipinos.

“Teddy Boy will be awed by the depth of popular discussions in the national language in forums, community chats, assemblies, academic conferences, if he tries to learn his people’s language,” Tanggol Wika members said.

Known for being outspoken on social media, Locsin is the editor-in-chief of Esquire magazine and produces editorial for ANC.

The third round of presidential debates is expected to be held on April 24.

-Mini, The Summit Express

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