Ex-beauty queens give advice to Bb. Pilipinas Janina San Miguel

Bb. Pilipinas 2008-World Janina San Miguel is slowly getting more attention not because of the crown she earned, but because of her booboos during the "Question and Answer" portion of the Coronation Night last Saturday, March 8, at the Araneta Coliseum. While people make fun of the incident—which is spreading fast in cyberspace and has more than 280,000 hits in the video-sharing website You Tube—former beauty queens, 1993 Miss World Second Princess Ruffa Gutierrez and 1979 Miss International Melanie Marquez, took it seriously and gave Janina some advice. THE BOOBOO. Janina initially wowed the audience when she confidently told the pageant host Paolo Bediones, "No, I don't feel any pressure right now." However, Janina looked like she had a hard time maintaining this impression when one of the judges, Ms. Vivienne Tan, asked her the question, "What role did your family play to you as candidate to Binibining Pilipinas?" When she answered the question, Janina started to show some nervousness, which caused her to lose her focus and started speaking in atrocious English. She replied, "Well, my family's role for me is so important because there was the wa... They're... They was the one who's very..." then, she laughed upon realizing her mistakes. Trying to keep herself calm and composed, Janina continued, "I'm so sorry, Ahhmm... My pamily... My family... Oh my god... I'm... Ok, I'm so sorry... I... I told you that I'm so confident... 'Eto, wait..." This was followed with a laugh again after realizing that she uttered a Tagalog word. Despite the blunder, Janina managed to finish answering the question. As if asking the audience to understand her, Janina went on saying, "Sorry guys because this was really my first pageant ever because I'm only 17 years old. I did not expect that I came from, I came from one of the top [which she pronounced as "tough"] ten. So... But I said that my family is the most important persons in my life. Thank you." THE ADVICE. In the midst of the public's outrage against the Bb. Pilipinas judges and Janina, who was crowned as the Bb. Pilipinas-World despite the incident, Ruffa explained to ABS-CBN News the importance of showing one's competence through speech and through the process in beauty pageants. She said, "I believe that a beauty pageant should be judged not only for the beauty but for the brains. Kasi you're representing your country in an international competition. You're gonna be with different delegates from different countries so you have to represent the Philippines in the best way you possibly can. "So, that's not just your physical beauty and also the way you speak, the way you carry yourself. I mean, pangit naman sabihin ang mga Pilipinang, you know, hindi marunong sumagot, 'di ba? Hindi marunong mag-English. To think na 98 percent of our population ay nag-i-English," Ruffa then added her advice to the Miss World winner, telling the 17-year-old girl not to get discouraged by all the ridicule; instead, she should gain strength from it to make herself better. She also pointed out, "Binibining Pilipinas-World [Janina] has seven months. So dapat gamitin niya yung seven months na 'yon para i-challenge yung sarili niya. Mag-aral siya, mag-aral siya ng speech lessons; mag-aral siya how to have confidence, how to carry herself, at ipakita niya sa mga taong nagri-ridicule sa kanya, 'Aba, kaya ko 'to. Magsa-shine ako sa Miss World at gagalingan ko the next time." Lastly, she reminded Janina, "But always remember, beauty with a purpose and beauty with brains." Former beauty queen Melanie Marquez also gave her piece of advice to Janina. She was once being taunted for having difficulty speaking correct English but later on it became her trademark in showbiz. Melanie authored a book titled Don't Judge Me, I'm Not A Book, a collection of her funny and famous malapropisms. Among these were, "Don't judge my brother; he's not a book," "I don't eat meat, I'm not carnival;" and "And to you, Mrs. Dee, I have two words for you: Ang labo mo!" which was her message to her former husband Derek Dee. For someone who unintentionally misuses English words or phrases, Melanie applies this simple rule: "May karapatan siyang magkamali sa Ingles kung maganda siya." - Philippine Entertainment Portal