Solon wants English subtitles on Tagalog films

House Deputy Speaker Eduardo Gullas
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If a member of the House of Representatives could have his way, all Tagalog movies and telenovelas and other popular entertainment programs on local television would be carrying English subtitles. House Deputy Speaker Eduardo Gullas urged producers and distributors to add subtitles to the movies and programs. That way, he added, they will contribute a lot to help arrest the decline in English proficiency among young people.
"This is one sure way to reinforce the average Filipino’s ability to speak, comprehend and write English," explained Gullas, an educator and author of a bill reinstating English as the medium of instruction in schools.

Considering the popularity of Tagalog movies and foreign telenovelas, English subtitles on them would facilitate in a big way the learning and use of the English language, he said.
"If program distributors can dub or add Tagalog soundtrack to telenovelas from South Korea, Mexico and other countries, then surely they can also include English subtitles," Gullas pointed out.In subtitling, the audio portion of a Tagalog movie or show is translated into English. As the program plays, what is said and by whom and other relevant sounds are shown in readable form at the bottom of the screen or monitor.The biggest beneficiaries would be the Filipino youth, Gullas said, who spend most of their free time watching movies and television programs.

A study made by the Social Weather Station indicates that 57 percent of the youth watch television everyday, while 34 percent go to the movies once or twice a month. Another study, this time by a leading advertising agency, shows that Filipino children spend 21 to 28 hours a week in front of the TV screen. At that rate, Filipinos, by age 30, will have spent five years of their lives watching television.Gullas warned that falling competency in the English language, if left unchecked, "is bound to erode our economic competitiveness in an increasingly technology-driven world.""English is the language of technology," he said. "Mastery of the language must form part of the skills of our workers. It is necessary to secure gainful employment both here or abroad."