This chapter critically examines recent changes in language in education policies in the Philippines that encourage mother-tongue based multilingual education (MTBLE). The paper extends the current work on the use of local languages in education and provides examples of how local languages, Filipino (the national language of the Philippines) and English (the language of higher education in the Philippines), can be used together in classrooms to both help maintain the local languages and help learners develop proficiency in languages that they need in other (professional and academic) aspects of their lives.