According to Miss International 1979 title holder Melanie Marquez, she will “support” Miss Philippines-Universe candidate Shamcey Supsup if she will speak in Tagalog in the coming Miss Universe 2011 beauty pageant to be held in Brazil on the 12th of September this year. Tagalog is a southern Luzon dialect that was branded as the Philippines’ “national language” during its late Commonwealth and early Independence years.
Rather than speak in English, which most Filipinos are generally proficient in, Marquez encourages Supsup to “be natural” during the pageant. Implying that part of being “natural” is to speak in Tagalog, she suggests that Supsup avail of the services of an interpreter if possible…
According to Marquez, the competition will be a great opportunity for Supsup to showcase the beauty of the Filipino language in front of an international audience.
“Mas maganda [kung gagamitin niya ang Filipino language] para at least malaman ng iba na mahal talaga natin ang kultura natin,†[translated: “It is better if [Supsup uses the Filipino language] so that others will know how much we love our cultureâ€] she explained.
Tagalog is a language long considered to be short on tools to support an ability in its speakers to articulate intellectual and scientific concepts. Its continued taking up of classroom time in Philippine schools is seen to be one of the contributing factors to Philippine society’s inability to build an ethic of technological achievement and intellectual pursuit…
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Many “cause-oriented” groups trumpet the practicality of the Tagalog language as a key ingredient for progress and nationalism. Yet they fail to provide any solutions to the dearth of knowledge material to lift Philippine society out of its intellectual bankruptcy. Are we going to continue denying the poor basic access to what the elites of Philippine society already monopolise — a monopoly they use to further their dominance over the dynamism of our society that all Filipinos are entitled to?
Let’s not waste valuable classroom time with a language that gets us nowhere. When was the last time you’ve seen a job ad that read “Tagalog-proficiency will be highly-regarded”? Tagalog is at best a quaint medium for expressing emotion — something that Filipinos are already world-class at. The objective future, however, is written and expressed in English. Given the whole point of education being an investment in the future and the meager resources of the Philippine Education System, it would be in our best interests to put these resources where they will yield real results.
Simple economics. Simple sense.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
I understand that Ms. Supsup is a native of General Santos. Perhaps there’s a dialect a little closer to what’s “natural” for her than Tagalog? Or is Melanie Marquez asking so she doesn’t have trouble understanding what they’re saying when she watches the pageant on TV?
Yeah, avail of the services of an interpreter. One who uses that weird Filipino syntax that produces non-standard English like “avail of” (or, as I saw in the Manila Bulletin article, “gave an advice to”). That’ll sound great.
All that complication being suggested when, really, it can be as easy as simply speaking in English and reaching a bigger audience more EFFICIENTLY.
Speaking in English (i guess a fourth tongue for Shamcey, because in Gen San, most people speak Cebuano, Ilongo and Tagalog) is still a big challenge even to many university graduates in the Philippines, I agree with the use of tagalog or cebuano during pageants Q&A portions kasi mas expressive at articulate tayo magsalita in our own language, whats wrong in using tagalog or cebuano after all we are Pinoys at dapat mahalin natin ang ating sariling wika, says Jose Rizal
I agree. Most people in Mindanao don’t speak fluent tagalog. The Tagalog spoken here is very much different from that of Manila. It has more Cebuano or Ilonggo words in it than Tagalog. Ms. Marquez may not know it but in places like Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod and Zamboanga, Tagalog is a foreign language.
When I lived up north, I knew a lot of people who absolutely refused to speak Tagalog. In the local public school, lessons were roughly half English and half Ilocano; Tagalog was used at the absolute bare minimum to satisfy whatever DepEd requirements were in force at that time (and that the school couldn’t safely ignore, which is what they did with a lot of directives from Manila).
Well bobo ka kung di ka marunong mag tagalog, foreign foreign ka dyan pinoy ka diba kumain ka nalang ng tite!
Smacey is basically Cebuano, like most Cebuanos, such as I, we hate to speak Tagalog but are forced to do so.
English on the other hand is our second language, Tagalog is somewhere down there if there is a bottomless pit.
Melanie I think is not stupid, on the contrary, it is a tactic that works. Speak in another language have someone more eloquent enough and even willing to improve your statement if it is really bad. I’ve heard of pageants like that, the lady was speaking in another language well her answer was bad and the interpreter improved it, adding more flower into it. Hmmm… I think it was Gloria Diaz who did this.
Hoy bisaya Tagalog lang ang recognized language puta ka!
It is actually this kind of language that almost got Manila in trouble with the Visayans.
http://ehpinoy.3.forumer.com/a/philippines-breaking-up_post1853.html
And Tagalogs like you would pretty much have a hard time with all of the tax collection gone to well about… 75%.
Another thing, you guys get hit with the typhoon and natural calamities a lot. We don’t. Think about it. You Tagalogs need us more, that we need you.
*than
Do you honestly believe that Shamcey Supsup would have won the Philippine title if she spoke just Tagalog and simply showcased her proficiency of the Filipino language? In the same sense, speaking in Filipino will not help Shamcey win the coveted title. While it has been proven that candidates who use interpreters eventually win the Miss Universe pageant, it will never be a decisive factor. It is what the candidates have in their brains that will prove their mettle in the question and answer portion. And I do believe Shamcey has a lot of grey matter to showcase.
BOBA!
Hehe 😉
I agree with Melanie. Yung iba nga segurista. Kahit marunong magEnlish eh may interpreter. Dapat lang na native tongue ang gamitin for the Q and A only.
But what if the contestant is comfortable with using English anyway? It is up to the contestant to choose the language she wants to use. After all, it does not really make a difference if she is well versed in Tagalog because once she is up on the stage, the pressure of knowing that the audience is waiting for her answer can still get her stumped.
Just because she failed at speaking English during her time in Miss Universe, doesn’t mean Shamcey will make the same mistake. Unfortunately for her, Shamcey is smarter. And it’s not just about intelligence, it’s about confidence. No matter how intelligent a person is, but when she is nervous, then of course she’ll mess up, no matter what language is used.
^ I mean Binibining Pilipinas, not Miss Universe, my bad.
Kung gusto mo talagang supurtahan ang isang tao hindi kailangan ang favor!!!kung susuportahan mo sya!!suportahan mo!!yun lang yun
Tama! 😉
Tama pala si Melanie marquez.
Ang hirap kasi sa ‘ting mga Pilipino, mnsan iniisip ntin na pra mgmukhang mtalino at ismarte kylangan mgsalita s wikang ingles..hello,nirirepresent nga ng mga contestants ung country nila eh,kia dpat lubusin na..costume,salita,ugali,paniniwala at sariling ganda..yung kay shamcey,mganda ung sagot nia,tamang english,pro masyadong simple sa pndinig,kung baga,wlang mxadong impact..kasi pwedeng takot sya mgkamali tulad ni venus kpag pnahaba nia..
The problem with you, is that you think we all like to speak your stupid Tagalog Language. We hate to speak it… REALLY HATE IT!
hate mo pala ang magsalita ng tagalog kung ganon huwag kang tum,ira sa maynila umuwi ka sa bayan ninyo ,isa kapala sa mga mayabang na tao sa pinay na pa class gaya ni supsup kung hindi text vote ay hindi mananalo dahil masmarami ang maganda sa kaniya.hindi natin kailanga ang matalino sa beauty contest dahil ang mga matalino ay akala mo ay kung sino kaya natatalo.
Dude I’m not even in Manila. Do you know what will happen if Visayas and Mindanao leaves the Philippines. You guys up there in Manila would be in trouble.
Tagalugin ko para maintindihan mo ha.
Hindi lang po tagalog ang salita dito sa Pilipinas. Nagkataon lang na ang salita sa tumatayong kabisera ng Pilipinas noong panahon ng pananakop eh tagalog.
Galit ka sa matatalino? Bakit anong kasalanan nila sa pagiging mang mang at mababaw mo? Wala namang pumipigil sa isang tao para maging matalino. Meron ba? Kung meron man, malamang KATAMARAN ang dahilan kung bakit hindi nagiging matalino ang isang tao.
I speak English and Ilocano, and then Ibaloi. Tagalog and those who think that love of country goes with it can kiss my hot, hairy, and dark backside.
Addendum: Melanie Marquez can blow me.
i love Bisaya and i speak and write Bisaya well. 🙂
Tagalog is so hard.