Filipino For Beginners: The Must-Know for Basic Phrases and Pronunciation Interesting Facts About the Filipino Language Tagalog (or Filipino) belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. The name of the language is derived from taga-ilog, from taga (native) + ilog (river). Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, is named after a mangrove tree that has white flowers called nilad.