Writer: Ruther Flores

Dissent or descent

The Maxine Medina Effect

In the recent years, the Philippines has been at the center stage of the pageant world.
The country's string of strong finishes in various international competitions had cemented our
reputation as a pageantry powerhouse. Whether it's Miss Supranational, Miss International,
Miss Earth, Miss World, or the most coveted Miss Universe title, the Philippines never fails to
deliver. Filipina candidates are almost always expected to make the cut among the top 15, top
10, top 5, and eventually win the title. Failure to make it is already viewed as an embarrassment
on the part of the candidates and local pageant organizations.

Aside from the unique Filipina beauty, a product of centuries of cultural assimilation,
candidates are also known to be good users or speakers of the English language. The
Philippines takes pride in the ability of its people to use the English language to almost native-
like levels. In fact, this is the main reason that we have a booming BPO industry. It is therefore
important for Filipinos that they are represented by someone who is linguistically gifted-- if not,
at least capable.

And just recently, the Filipino's pride in the use of the international language has been
tested when the country was represented in the most prestigious pageant competition by
someone perceived by many to lack the necessary communication skills in the English
language. Maxine Medina, Bb. Pilipinas Universe 2016 who made it to the top 6 of Miss
Universe 2016 competition, cannot be classified as a non-English user. She is not as good as
previous candidates, but she isn't half-bad compared to the candidates of other countries. And
yet, when she failed to use the language effectively on stage and failed to satisfactorily answer
the question despite the presence of an interpreterwhich many are saying she did not utilize
effectively many people, including her own, made fun of her and mocked her for attempting to
use the English language on such an occasion.

It is not new for the Filipinos to make fun of people who commit mistakes when trying to
use English to communicate. A term was even coined to describe this, 'Carabao English'.
Filipino English is different from Carabao English. The former is seen as our distinct use and
interpretation of the language and is widely accepted in academic and international circles while
the latter is used to mock someone's kind of English.

Therefore, it is not ridiculous or exaggerated to say that her attempt to use the English
language led to her disappointing performance during the Q&A portion of the pageant. She
herself admitted that she's not as good as previous Filipina candidates and thus, needs a
backup plan. Had she gone with the original plan which is to use the Filipino language, she
could have delivered a better answer than the one she had.

What's wrong with using Filipino? Despite admitting her weakness, she still attempted to
use the English language. We can only speculate on what went on inside her head, but she
probably wanted to prove many people wrongher bashers most especially. Most likely, she
wanted to use the English language to impress not only the judges, but also the country. Very
timely, the country was also the pageant's host and as such, many people watched and
anticipated a good finish for the Filipina.
Writer: Ruther Flores
Dissent or descent

Maxine Medina's performance in the competition went viral. Many people were quick to
point out that Maxine should have answered in Filipino and relied on the interpreter instead.
Others even went beyond basic human decency and mocked her as 'bobo' or dumb. People
judged her quickly. Others even called her names and some said that she's only physically
attractive, nothing more.

Instead of taking pride that we, once again, made it to the top, people chose to focus on
Maxine's weakness and blamed it for not making it to the top 3. Isn't this insulting to Miss
Columbia, Miss Haiti, and Miss France? Are we saying that if not for Maxine's linguistic skills,
one of them would have not made it to the top? I find this idea revolting and insulting.

But looking at the bigger picture, what happened to Maxine is a classic case of the
Filipino's false sense of pride and ownership. Just because we've always made it to the top of
the world's most prestigious pageants doesnt mean that we will always win. Do we have
monopoly on beauty? I don't think so. It is not wrong to take pride in always winning, but when
pride gets the best of us, we become unable to respect other outcomes.

Adding to this, many people have again equated intelligence with linguistic skills. Anyone
familiar with the concept of multiple intelligences should know that language abilities are just
one aspect of intelligence. One should not be quick to judge a person's intelligence just because
he or she cannot speak well in English or any other language.

We should continue to take pride that we can use the English language almost as well
as native users, but we should not put down others who cannot do the same. Had we been
more understanding of Maxine's weakness, she could have been inspired to answer in Filipino.
It was a moment for her to show the world that we are proud of our national language, yet it
became a missed opportunity. We take pride in victories, but we cannot support fellow Filipinos
who don't make it. It's not just sad, it's tragic.

The case of Maxine Medina should serve as an eye-opener. This isn't even new.
Remember Manny Pacquiao? Whenever he wins, we are quick to identify ourselves with him,
but during his interviews, we never fail to make fun of him.

We should embrace our own and inspire a more nationalistic sentiment towards our
culture, including our language. We should be more respectful of the less linguistically capable
members of society and take pride in what they have offered and done instead.