May tawag ako ngayon.

In this sentence, may is used to express existence or possession. In English, this often comes out as there is/there are or have/has.

So May tawag ako literally works like There is a call for me, but in natural English it is usually understood as I have a call.

This pattern is very common in Filipino:

• May tanong ako = I have a question
• May pera siya = He/She has money
• May oras ka ba? = Do you have time?

The normal Filipino pattern here is:

may + thing + person

So:

• May tawag ako
• May libro siya
• May trabaho kami

This is just how possession is often expressed in Filipino. The sentence is built around the existence of something, and then the person connected to it is added after the noun.

Ako may tawag is not the standard neutral way to say this.

Here, tawag means call as a noun.

So May tawag ako ngayon means something like I have a call now or I have a call today/right now, depending on context.

Be careful, though: tawag can mean different things in other contexts. It can also refer to:

• a name/term: Ano ang tawag dito? = What is this called?
• the idea of calling someone

In your sentence, it is clearly being used as a noun meaning call.

In this pattern with may, Filipino uses pronouns like ako, ka, siya, kami, tayo, kayo, sila.

So you say:

• May tawag ako
• May tanong ka
• May problema sila

You do not normally say May tawag ko.

By contrast, ko is used in other kinds of possessive structures, such as:

• tawag ko = my call
• libro ko = my book

So:

• May tawag ako = I have a call
• Tawag ko = my call

Those are different structures.

Ngayon usually means now, but depending on context it can also feel like today or at present.

So May tawag ako ngayon could mean:

• I have a call now
• I have a call today
• I have a call at the moment

The exact meaning depends on the situation.

If someone is speaking about their schedule, ngayon may feel closer to today/this time. If someone is speaking in the middle of an activity, it may feel closer to right now.

Yes. Filipino word order is flexible, and ngayon can often move depending on emphasis.

For example:

• May tawag ako ngayon
• Ngayon, may tawag ako

Both are possible. The first sounds like a plain statement. The second gives more emphasis to now/today.

In many everyday sentences, the version with ngayon at the end sounds very natural.

Yes, but for many everyday situations they are very close in meaning.

• may is short and very common
• mayroon is longer and a bit more formal or careful
• meron is a common spoken form of mayroon

So these can all express roughly the same idea:

• May tawag ako
• Mayroon akong tawag
• Meron akong tawag

A learner should especially notice that with mayroon/meron, the pronoun usually changes form:

• May tawag ako
• Mayroon akong tawag
• Meron akong tawag

That -ng link is part of the structure.

Not usually.

May tawag ako ngayon most naturally means I have a call now or There is a call for me now.

If you want to say Someone is calling me now, more natural choices would be:

• May tumatawag sa akin ngayon = Someone is calling me now
• Tinatawagan ako ngayon = I am being called right now

So the original sentence is about having a call, not necessarily about the action of the phone ringing at this exact second.

Yes, it is understandable and natural enough, especially if you mean something like I have a call now or I have a call today.

Still, in real conversation, native speakers might choose slightly different wording depending on the exact situation:

• May tawag ako ngayon = I have a call now/today
• May kausap ako ngayon = I’m talking to someone right now
• May tatawag sa akin ngayon = Someone will call me now/later
• May tumatawag sa akin ngayon = Someone is calling me now

So your sentence is fine, but the best choice depends on what kind of call you mean.