Miss Philippines World’s ear-splitting English an ‘eye-opener’ for RP - solon

A senior lawmaker is using as basis the embarrassing English of Miss Philippines World Janina San Miguel as a reason for the government to seriously address the country’s deteriorating state of education. Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, an educator whose family owns one of the oldest schools in his province, couldn’t help but be annoyed of the 17-year-old beauty queen’s reply to the question-and-answer portion. He found the video – which has reached the popular YouTube in the Internet – “tormenting to watch." “Her sensational failure to answer a simple question in straight English betrays the fading competence of a growing number of young Filipinos in the world's lingua franca." “The truth is, if Ms San Miguel had been Chinese, Japanese, Spanish or French, nobody would have cared about her awkward English. People would have totally ignored it. They would have excused her right away," Gullas said. “But she is a Filipino, and English is our highly favored second language. So people expected more from her," he added. Gullas authored House Bill 305, which seeks to reinforce the English skills of Filipinos by reinstating the language as the medium of instruction in all school levels. The bill has already been endorsed by 207 of the 238 members of the House of the Representatives. San Miguel’s blunder has been the talk of the town lately, and she has been likened to another former beauty titlist who speaks terrible English, Ms Melanie Marquez, who managed to get the crown but had been the butt of jokes. But Gullas still expressed hope that it is not yet too late for the beauty queen to improve her English before the Miss World pageant in November. “She will recover quickly, no doubt about that. We wish her good luck." In the question-and-answer portion of the March 8 pageant, a female judge asked San Miguel what role her family had played in her participation in the contest. Stumbling all over, this was her rejoinder: "Well, my family's role for me is so important because there was the, they're they was the one whose very, ha-ha; oh I'm so sorry. Ah my family, my family, oh my God, I'm, okay. I'm so sorry; I, I told you that I'm so confident; ah wait, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, uhm, sorry guys because this was really my first pageant ever. Because I'm only 17 years old and I did not expect that I came from, I came from the one of the top 10; uhm, so, but I said that my family is the most important persons in my life. Thank you." Despite the embarrassing answer, San Miguel, the youngest candidate at 17, went on to be crowned Binibining Pilipinas World, besides getting the awards for Best in Swimsuit and Best in Long Gown. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) under former Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco has already offered to help future beauty pageant candidates express themselves better in English through a free, 120-hour crash course. Citing India's experience, Gullas previously urged young Filipinos to master English, or risk getting left behind in the race for high-paying jobs and economic survival. “Those who fail to acquire adequate English skills will be marginalized in the lucrative job markets of the future. If we look closely at India's recent economic boom, the Indians benefiting the most in terms of improved standards of living are mainly those with English skills. This is because they are the ones cornering the good-paying jobs," Gullas said. “The Indians without English skills are the ones getting left behind economically. Without access to gainful employment, they remain mired in poverty, amid the economic boom there," he added. - GMANews.TV