Frustrations/controversies surrounding Maria Venus’ answer in the recent Miss Universe pageant drove Gloria Diaz from her cocoon proposing “that contestants from the Philippines use language interpreters/translators in international beauty pageants.”
Ms. Diaz says that Philippine contestants should have the right to answer in whatever language they want from our more than 100 languages. The Ilocana beauty did not exclude any language including foreign but merely wants contestants to answer in any language they are comfortable with.
The former Miss Universe has a point but it should not be taken seriously.
Contestants have no idea on what they have to answer. Take for granted that a multi-lingual Filipina from Vigan fluent in English, Tagalog, Ilocano, Spanish, Cebuano, and Italian vies for an international title in Amsterdam. Does it mean that she has to bring her Filipino translator(s)? If she does not, are there translators in the Amsterdam contest ready to interpret our representative in any Philippine language she would be comfortable with in answering depending on what the question is? Beauty is not the sole criterion in beauty pageants --- it includes brain or intelligence as well.
It is not clear how “comfortable” is defined but I believe that when one is comfortable in any language, he is fluent in speaking and writing it. What discomforts is the situation or location where the speaker is subjected to especially when there is pressure. I am fluent and comfortable in Ilocano but I may not be comfortable in using it when I am in Quezon City attending a national seminar, although I am also fluent in Tagalog, I may be more comfortable in English.
When a contestant blunders it is because of the answer expressed under the spell of pressure or suspense. Maria Venus, had she not been under pressure, could have found a better response and way in expressing her thought.
I am not a viewer of beauty pageants but I guess, English is always the medium; it doesn’t matter where the venue is. We, Filipinos, are very proud in saying that we are the third largest English-speaking country after the US and Britain (Hello to India, New Zealand and Australia) but why are we reluctant to use our second official language especially when the world is watching?
With the quick deterioration of our English capability, time comes in the very near future when Gloria Diaz will be happy in the comfort of her room watching another Miss Universe pageant with our representative talking in Taglish with a cacophony of “I mean”, “actually”, “you know” and other local trashy colloquialisms like the pronunciation of "R" in "courage". It is only these days that "R" is pronounced like that by the youth while speaking Tagalog or Taglish instead of its original and correct Spanish pronunciation as in "perlas". But who cares when what matters is the translator's understanding of what he interprets and his official translation?
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