Is it dead or is it evolving? We don't say english is dead even though 65% of our words are derived from french/ latin We simply call it English. This is essentially what happened in the Filipines but to lesser extent, the Americans and the Spanish added many words into the Tagalog vocabulary but the core of what Tagalog is isn't dead, not by a long shot. 

(continuation) Speaking in Taglish is very convenient for us because Filipinos are mostly, and at the least, bilingual, with English almost always being the other language, though in varying levels of fluency. When we are introduced to new things that come from other countries, like cell phones, for example, we get acquainted with them in English. Hence, words like “cell phone” and “charger” need not be translated into Tagalog anymore since we understand them already as they are. There is a tendency therefore to use such words as a natural part of the lingo and say things like “nagce-cellphone” or “magcha-charge”.

Perhaps, as Shane mentioned, conversational Filipino is evolving in the sense that the adoption of English words continues as a result of the bustling commercial globalization and exposure to English media and the Internet. Perhaps what is happening is the “unconscious” gradual blending of the two languages with the retention of Filipino for the grammar structure that's why it may sound rather off to native English speakers. However, the coexistence of the 2 distinct languages is still there as Gerald is hoping for. Ask a Filipino speaker to speak or write in “pure” Tagalog/Filipino and I am sure he/she will be able to.

Therefore, to say that Tagalog is dead, can't be true. When the time comes that a Filipino would not know how to say this in Filipino/Tagalog anymore: Pumunta ka nga sa kanto at dun sa mga naglalako dun ibili mo ako ng sapin-sapin, balot, at halo-halo”, then we can all be there at its funeral. :-)

Benny Lewis's observation is valid given the limited time he was here and presumably, given the locale of his experiences. In Metro Manila and the surrounding urbanized areas, yes, Taglish may be considered already as the dominant mode in daily conversations. However, if we are to talk to people in the Tagalog regions, who have not been that much exposed to urbanization, we will find that Tagalog is still very much alive. Also, in some universities in Manila, speaking Taglish inside the classroom is still a no-no as it is seen as a bastardization of the national language. (I think that's part of what si-kano was saying.) So, there is still an official effort to fend off the advance of Taglish. But, well, let's just say that in reality, what happens inside the classroom stays inside the classroom.

Normally, we do not bother to distinguish between Filipino/Pilipino (the national language) and Tagalog because Filipino is by and large based on Tagalog anyway. We may only refer to it as Filipino, and not Tagalog, when talking about the language subject taught in schools. I think though that what we speak here in Manila is actually Filipino because when I get to speak with some of those from the Tagalog regions far from Manila, I still hear some words that are old-fashioned and get to realize that those are the original Tagalog words.

As with other Philippine languages that had high levels of contact withoutside groups, Tagalog has been adopting English words for the last century in the same way it adopted Spanish, Malay, Hokkein, Sanskrit and other vocabulary for the last millenium. From what I can tell, this was enabled by the adaptability of the Austronesian system of affixes and roots, which allow languages like Tagalog to indigenize foreign nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc without changes to native syntax. That's how you can take words like maneho [Spanish, manejar: to drive] or sampalataya [Sanskrit, sampratyaya: faith/belief] and Filipinize them so efficiently. So if pure Tagalog is what you're after, it hasn't been a totally "pure" language for over a thousand years, at least in terms of vocabulary. The same thing is apparent in the English language: try comparing the King James Version of the Bible, published in the 1600's, to a New International Version or similarly contemporary translation. For more drastic differences, read original texts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or Beowulf and compare them to modern English.

Now that doesn't discount the fact that problems emerge from English domination of conversational, educational, and entertainment-based speech; this is a real issue that Tagalog speakers and organizations like the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino or Dep-Ed confront regularly. However, these changes should be understood as a natural process that all languages undergo as their speakers interact with other economic powers, not as unique occurrances.

I think middle class and rich people speak taglish but the poor who couldn't afford going to school and don't speak English well only speak Tagalog, right?