House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker’s office)

A source of great national pride.

That's how House Speaker Martin Romualdez described Harvard University's decision to introduce a Tagalog course among its academic offerings.

“Our language is our pride! And learning about Harvard’s new Tagalog language course, I am expressing my full support for the program. I hope and pray that the Harvard Tagalog course will flourish and grow in the future to include many aspects of Filipino culture!” Romualdez told Harvard University’s students Thursday, April 20 during a gathering of the Filipino community in Massachusetts.

“The teaching of Tagalog at Harvard University is a source of great national pride. The university is one of the top academic institutions in the world, if not the best. Its programs are emulated or duplicated in other institutions of higher learning.

"Kaya naman proud na proud tayo sa development na ito (That's why we're very proud of this development),” said the Leyte 1st district congressman.

Harvard University, an illustrious academic institution that has produced eight US presidents and countless great leaders, recently decided to include Tagalog in its course offerings, along with Bahasa Indonesia and Thai, according to the student paper Harvard Crimson.

Tagalog is the dialect on which the Filipino language is mostly based. It is reportedly the fourth most spoken language in the US, which is home to some 4.2 million Filipino Americans.

“We express our gratitude to Harvard University for recognizing the need to teach the Filipino language to those interested to learn about our rich and diverse culture. Once again, our country is in the spotlight of the world stage, and I have never been so proud to be a Filipino,” Romualdez said.

Also on Thursday, Romualdez delivered a policy speech at the Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government before university officials, faculty members and students in Boston, Massachusetts.

The speech tacked the future of the Philippines and United States (US) alliance. The event was moderated by Eric Rosenbach, Co-Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.