This document discusses mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) in the Philippines. It defines key terms like mother tongue and multilingual. MTB-MLE uses the children's mother tongue in the classroom to facilitate learning Filipino and English. The goals are to develop cognitive skills to operate in different languages, and to preserve Philippine culture. The Department of Education implemented MTB-MLE for 12 languages, and recently added 7 more dialects. Benefits include reduced dropout rates, repetition, and increased student attendance and learning. Not using the mother tongue can lead to learning difficulties and loss of heritage language and culture.