Janina San Miguel Reacts: Chika Minute Interview Transcript and Video Here
We must understand that the outpouring of indignation after the Bb. Pilipinas beauty pageant is not a result of Janina’s bad English. It is a protest against a system where a candidate who did very poorly in the Q&A portion can still bag a major title.
Looking young, poised, urbane, and heartbreakingly lovely – Janina San Miguel finally breaks her silence and defends herself against her critics and detractors in a Chika Minute interview.
Correspondent: Puna at batikos – ito ang natanggap ni Binibining Pilipinas World Janina San Miguel dahil sa umano’y sablay nyang Ingles sa Question and Answer portion ng Bb. Pilipinas beauty pageant. Tinatawag na rin syang “YouTube Queen” at Junior Melanie Marquez dahil raw sa blooper nya.
Pero nagpapakatatag si Janina. Hindi naman sya galing sa marangyang pamilya. May pampasadang jeep ang kanyang ama. Panganay sa tatlong magkakapatid. Ang kanyang pamilya raw ang dahilan kaya sya nagpursigi na sumali sa Binibining Pilipinas.
Janina (insert) – Napakasimple lang po talaga ng pamilya namin, pero lahat po kami nagmamahalan. So yun po. Kumpleto naman po kami.
Correspondent – Matibay pa rin si Janina, kung tutuusin. Natatanggap nya sa kanyang kalooban ang mga panlalait, pagpapakita lang na maganda ang disposisyon nya sa buhay.
Janina (insert) – Hindi ko naman po iniintindi eh. Tsaka 17 lang po ako. Marami pa pong mangyayari sa buhay ko, hindi lang yun.
Correspondent – Tuloy ang usad ng buhay para kay Janina. Nagpapasalamat din sya sa suporta ng Bb. Pilipinas at ng mga kasamahang reigning queens. Inamin naman nyang ninerbyos sya noong pageant night, at hindi raw nya masyadong narinig ang tanong sa kanya. Pero kung ngayon sya tatanungin kung ano ang naging papel ng pamilya nya sa pagsali nya sa Bb. Pilipinas, ganito nya raw sasagutin:
Janina (insert) – Well, they serve as my inspiration. Talagang yun po talaga.
Correspondent – At para raw sa walang tigil sa pangungutya, ito na lang ang masasabi ni Janina:
Janina (insert) – Nakita nyo naman po, na meron akong sapat na lakas na loob na lumaban. Sana po, nangyari na, huwag na lang po kayong manghusga ng tao. Talaga pong gagawin ko yung makakaya ko para sa competition na ‘to sa darating na Ms. World.
My Commentary:
IMHO, this is GMA-7 network’s attempt to make people regard Janina with more sympathy and compassion than they have done so far. The following were the points raised by the Chika Minute report and my translation – what was actually being said between the lines:
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Janina does not come from a wealthy family (translation = she did not have the privileges that would have turned her into a better English speaker; therefore, you can’t blame her for her blunder. Moreover, she’s “one of us” – that is, she’s not part of the wealthy minority – and we should stop picking on our own kind)
- that Janina does not mind the criticisms (translation = that Janina is gracious and forgiving – a much kinder soul than her detractors who are obviously mean-hearted as they persist in criticizing her)
- that Janina is only 17 (translation = she’s young so people should be more forgiving and understanding )
- that Janina admits to being nervous (translation = she messed up but she is at least honest for she admits it; doesn’t that count for something?)
- that Janina did not hear the question clearly (translation = you can’t blame her for her answer which was wide of the mark; if she couldn’t hear the question clearly, then how could we expect her to answer it correctly?)
- that Janina would have given the correct answer had she been less nervous and had she understood the question better (translation = no, she’s not stupid like some people are saying)
- that she has the courage to go on and fight and people should stop judging her (translation = people, stop talking about her, ano ba?!? You’re judgmental if you do, and do you really want to be labeled as such?)
- that Janina is determined to do better in the Ms. World beauty pageant (this is a straightforward statement; reading between the lines is not required)
This report is a brilliant piece of marketing. It paints a picture of a young, lovely, kind, family-loving, and vulnerable person who is but a victim of cruel, senseless and judgmental people who enjoy picking on her. Pilipinong Pilipino ang plot. Janina is portrayed as the underdog (the “api” character) and her detractors – those who continue to complain about the judges’ decision – are simply mean and judgmental people (the “villains”) who just love to pick on Janina.
Guess who comes out smelling like roses and who comes out smelling like shit in the end?
Ironically, the report still leaves the crucial question unanswered: Does Janina deserve to win the Bb. Pilipinas World title?
We must understand that the outpouring of indignation after the Bb. Pilipinas beauty pageant is not a result of Janina’s bad English. It is a protest against a system where a candidate who did very poorly in the Q&A portion can still bag a major title.
A candidate can slip and fall off the stage and we’ll still accept her if she wins the title. We’ll laugh at her and we’ll talk about her, of course, but we will not question the judges’ decision as long as she has been able to prove her mettle in the competition. However, a candidate can’t crash and burn during the Question and Answer portion and expect people not to complain and ask questions if she wins a major title.
Janina can and does have our sympathy, but she still does not deserve the crown and the judges still have to explain their decision. That’s the issue, in a nutshell.
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Writer, editor, researcher, search marketing consultant, domain developer, and bum.
Hi Vel,
Thank you for dropping by and for leaving a comment. However, I have decided last August that I won’t display any more janina comments whether they be positive, negative or neutral. Thus, I did not show your comment. In any case, please rest assured your comment has been noted. In fact, it remains in my comment inbox (if you can call it such, he he).
Thank you very much! Please visit again soon!
Jinky
elmie,
You are right. Charm and poise under pressure is what counts most in the Q&A portion. However, I beg to disagree that candidate #15, Ms. San Miguel, showed it during her Q&A. Moreover, please note the operative word, “most”. Sensible answers still matter.
Of course, we are going to support Janina. But we still protest the decision of the judges. It’s as simple as that.
- Jinky
Charm and poise under pressure is what counts most in the Q&A portion of beauty pageants, not being able to speak in tongues and articulate like statesmen; in some Miss Universe pageants I’ve watched before they even turn off the sound for the judges to focus only on the physical appearance of the candidate under tremendous pressure to see whether her countenance would continue to show composure and confidence. Short courses in English and oral communication is easier and even cheaper to invest on than on a total physical makeover. So to Janina, go for it we believe in you, shine in 7 months!
Hey jun,
Amen.
- Jinky
hi everybody
Not only the grammar should be corrected but to include the pronunciation. To Janina should ans the question in tagalog.
nilo,
- Jinky
i think that the public has been very cruel to janina. first of all english is not her native tongue. we should be speaking the filipino langauage all the time. but you know filipinos are not really proud of their native language. that is purely because we are not nationalistic compared to the japanese, chinese and spanish. i live in new york and most of the spanish people here refused to converse in english. in most cases the americans speaks little spanish just to be able to understand them. we always have to interpret for them, because i know a little of spanish. what i’m trying to say is that it is not the end of the world if you cannot speak english. i feel that janina deserves the crown because of her courage to accept the fact that she was nervous and that she is not used to communicating in english. come on it binibining pilipinas. all that matters really is beauty of body and face. forget the intelligence factor, it did not do any good with the summa cum laude candidates we sent before. if she is another melanie marquez, then she will bring home the miss title then. so janina, my sweetheart forget about the tsikas. you are beautiful both in and out and that is all that matters. by the way ruffa, she will be a better delegate than you, watch.
cigarette-girl,
You’re absolutely right! That’s exactly the point I and (I guess) thousands of other people are trying to make. Even without the English proficiency issues, she still failed the Q&A for the simple reason that she did not answer the question she was asked. And being 17 is no excuse at all, of course. It was a simple question. It required no textbook knowledge or years and years of experience to answer.
Thanks for leaving a comment!
- Jinky
actually, if you think about it, it’s not just grammar and vocabulary problem, she really didn’t answer the question at all. the question was what role did her family play. she answered with my family is very important to me?
and being “just 17″ isn’t really a good excuse.
Febe,
Smelling salts and a glass of water for Febe, anyone?
Hi there, febe! I’m glad to see you again.
As for Janina, she’s still hot news to me and my friends. But I had no time to watch the television so I didn’t see that Startalk interview. Really? She struck out again? I’m going to look it up in YouTube. I might luck out, who knows?
You’re right when you say that Janina should have tried to do better in her interviews. After all, it’s her English speaking skills that caused a lot of controversy, so she should at least have tried not to repeat her mistake. Para din yang presidente na na-accuse ng under-the-table dealing, then goes right around and clumsily does it again. When something you do causes controversy, doesn’t it make sense not to repeat the same thing so as not to rouse the same reaction?
- Jinky
Mary Jane,
Attendance noted, Mary Jane, ha ha ha.
Ikaw talaga. Kontrobersyal!
At least, di ba. Hindi kayo bored. I have found that keeping students interested can be the most challenging task for a teacher. It’s quite possible (albeit improbable) that your College Algebra teacher deliberately spoke bad English to entertain her students, o di ba?
I’ve always maintained that if one laughs at her/himself first when he/she makes a mistake, one can turn a “tragedy” into something much less painful. Thus, I am always first to laugh at my gaffes (assuming, of course, that I’m first to notice them). When one laughs at his/her mistakes first, people would laugh – not AT him/her – but WITH him/her. That’s much more acceptable in my book.
I do hope you can start your own blog. Tell me if you need any help.
All right. Thanks for visiting again. Hope to see you around again some time soon!
- Jinky
I just cant get over Janina, so please allow me to share…
I saw her on Startalk more than a week ago. When asked the pageant’s question for the nth time, she answered “My pamily is really my insperation…” It was a simple sentence and 2 weeks after the ‘infamous’ Q&A incident, she should have at least been able to deliver the line flawlessly.
Janina was also asked if she would be interested to join showbiz, her reply – “mowdel po”, “mowdelling”.
Gawd!! pronunciation issues to the max! I wanted to faint.
Hey Jinky!
Heto na naman ako, present! ^_^
Okay I admit i’m a little mean..hehehe
But at least I’m no hypocrite ano, di kagaya ng iba diyan na kunwari pinagtatanggol si Janina yun pala sarili rin yung pinagtatanggol. Peace Cher!! ^_^
At least you know how to laugh at your own mistakes Jinky. I remember I had a professor once, she teaches College Algebra, grabe pag-nagdidiscuss sya hindi kami makapag-concentrate kasi mali-mali talaga English nya. Pero syempre bawal kaming tumawa ano, old maid pa naman. Palalabasin kami pag nahuli. At least hindi kami bored pag nasa klase nya…hehehe
Pasensya na sa TagLish..^_^
Sana nga I’ll have time to start my own blog. E email ko nga minsan ko lang maopen eh..hehe..Pero I’ll try.. I’ll learn from your blog and other people’s blogs first though. ^_^
Hi Mary Jane!
You ARE mean!!!! Just kidding, he he
Anyway, nagkakamali rin naman ako syempre. Tanungin mo mga students ko. Meron akong memorable bloopers. Ako pa nga unang tumatawa (pag may student na sumali, sinasabihan kong bagsak na sya
pero syempre, joke lang ulit)
Pero, I do try (note the operative word: try) to be grammatically correct. I also usually notice when I have said something wrong, and I immediately correct my mistake. Tsaka I usually read my post several times to see if I have made a mistake para, as you say, di naman nakakahiya.
Tama ka, though. The only way to perfect something is through observation, study and practice.
Naku, taglish ako nang taglish, he he. Sabi ko pa naman sa mga estudiamos ko bawal taglish sa concept papers nila, tsk, tsk, tsk.
p.s. sana when you have time, you’ll start your own blog.
Hi Jinky!
I don’t mean to be ‘mean’ but I think Cher sympathizes with Janina because they have the same ‘issues.’ I think she sees herself in Janina; she doesn’t want people to judge her as well but sorry Cher, I also just can’t help it..he,he,he. But tell me though, do you have the same pretty face and the body to go with it?
Hindi naman ako ganun kagaling mag-English. Katunayan nga mali-mali pa grammar ko most of the time eh (unlike Jinky). Pero I try to learn, to understand and to not make myself nakakatawa noh. If hindi ako marunong mag-express ng sarili ko pagtinatanong ako in English, sinasagot ko na lang in our dialect-Hiligaynon or in Tagalog. At least I make myself understandable diba? hindi katawa-tawa, hindi ‘trying hard.’
Peace, Cher!
Cher,
“Dont be so mean guys,everyone on this world were not perfect…”
This comment bears out exactly what I was pointing out at the post and shows exactly what tack is being used to silence those who find the pageant results anomalous – people who express negative views are to be labeled mean. What Filipino wants to be labeled mean, unforgiving, petty, etc, after all?
“okay fine, her language skill in english is weak,and so what???”
In response, here’s part of the above post:
Still,she manage to answer to everyone that her family are the important persons in her life.
Again, the question was “What role did your family play with you as contestant to the bb. Pilipinas?” and her answer was “…my family is the most important persons in my life.” tell me, does the answer fit?
“So bugger off,leave her alone and give support for her upcoming international pageant instead of negatives things that your putting on her head.
You’re right that we should give Janina our support in the upcoming pageant. But that does not mean that we can’t talk about the issue.
First, last time I checked, people in this country are still free to express their opinion – especially an opinion that is so predominantly right. You can fault us perhaps if we have made up stories and purposively made the recounting much worse than it is. But obviously, all we’re saying is the truth – what happened – and what our reactions to it are.
Second, we may be putting “negatives things” in her head but notice that the protest is against
Janina’s victory, not Janina personally. To be more specific, the object of this hullabaloo is the event or the contest result and not Janina herself. To quote,
I havent seen the whole pageant and to tell you i didnt know that theres happening a controversy in Bb. Pilipinas Pageant till one of my friend told us if we’ve seen already the pageant on TV and we said NO. And we decided to watch it in YOUTube. And we seen Ms. Janina on her Q&A portion.Dont be so mean guys,everyone on this world were not perfect,okay fine, her language skill in english is weak,and so what???Still,she manage to answer to everyone that her family are the important persons in her life. So bugger off,leave her alone and give support for her upcoming international pageant instead of negatives things that your putting on her head.
febe,
“I personally always thought that finalists (TAF 10 – sorry cant help it!)…”
Indeed, if they want the issue to die down, the judges and organizers have to give a definite and detailed explanation. If they don’t, Janina will just continue to take the flak from people who want and are deprived of an explanation.
I also watched my share of Bb. Pilipinas contests in the past and I’ve repeatedly heard that the scores do get leveled off before the QandA. In that case, Janina should have gone to the bottom of the list of finalists after the Q&A – even if the judges liked Janina’s physique better than the other finalists. After all, the finalists are the prime pick of the lot – physically. If not, how have they made it so far?
If the QandA makes up only 20% of the final score, then I agree with you that it seems relatively low. However, as long as the slates do get cleared before the QandA round, this shouldn’t be much of a problem at that point (the QandA and after) for the wit/intelligence of the candidates will become the primary basis for selecting the winners. In such a system, among the finalists who are all physically beautiful, the smartest three should emerge as winners.
Tew,
Uy, musta na ang buhay buhay Tew!
Amu ngani kuno. Ga ukay na sana ang weight or di na daw nagma-matter na maray ang Q&A performance. Pero ga idi man talaga mauda. Aduyu su video sa YouTube, su report ni Lhar Santiago.
Kung siring, kayun man guilayun Q&A. Maski ukay ang weight nikan, pag nagbagsak sya in a spectacular way sa Q&A sa Ms. World pageant, asa pang paganun sya idto di ba maski sya na ang pinakamagayon ang physical attributes. Magareklamo nikan su ibang mga bansa.
The gist of the above (for those who are not Oasnon, he he)
Hi, how is life treating you Tew?
Yes, that’s what I hear, too. A Ms. World candidate’s Q&A performance will apparently no longer matter much in the judging. However, I don’t think that the Q&A portion will be totally eradicated from the pageant. Here is the video in YouTube, a report by Lhar Santiago.
It seems there will still be a Q&A portion. Thus, even if the Q&A’s overall weight has been reduced and Janina ranks highly in the physical attributes department, she can’t make a spectacle of herself in the Ms. World pageant’s Q&A portion and still expect to win. Other countries will naturally have something to say about that.
“Janina can and does have our sympathy, but she still does not deserve the crown and the judges still have to explain their decision. That’s the issue, in a nutshell.”
Jinky, i couldnt agree with you less. It would help a lot if the Bb.Pilipinas board/organizers would explain the scoring criteria & process. I personally always thought that finalists (TAF 10 – sorry cant help it!) are back on a clean slate in the final round.
I also heard somewhere that Q/A is only 20% of the criteria, assuming this is true, dont you think it is relatively low if the goal really is ‘beauty and brains’?
Hi Jing! I heard somewhere that the judges made her win because Miss World no longer has a Q&A portion during the pageant night.
Perhaps it would help to see the categories for judging and how well she fared with the other contestants.