Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Miss Universe Philippines Maxine Medina is criticized by some netizens for what they say, is her lack of fluency for the English language — but her mentor quickly came to her defense.
In a viral video taken during her send-off party on Tuesday, Medina was asked about her advocacy.
During her interview with the media, and as transcribed by CNN Philippines, she said: “My advocacy is about the youth who has HIV, specifically the youth. Coz I would like to feel them the help, the hope to give them access to education, living the life they should, you know. There’s something in me that I really wanted to do also is to ensure that there’s out there a little child, a girl, who’s just like me — a simple girl who don’t know that she can be a beauty queen.”
One netizen said he’d love to hear her speak in Filipino, adding he is not underestimating her, but would rather hear the beauty of the language during the Miss Universe pageant.
Another netizen also said they can see Medina’s efforts to learn the language but she cannot express herself in English, so she might as well speak in Filipino during the competition.
Medina’s mentor, Mark Abalos, addressed Medina’s critics in an Instagram post on Thursday.
He said the Filipinos should stop comparing Medina’s communication skills with other Filipina beauty queens.
“We are second language speakers of English. Errors are normal…At the end of the day, it’s just a beauty contest. Maxine will still be beautiful. She’ll still be designing interiors. She has a beautiful life ahead,” her language coach said.
Abalos added Medina has improved a lot and is doing all she can to become a better version of herself.
“I know that she has what it takes to represent our country. I am very lucky to have trained one of the most beautiful persons that I’ve known in this lifetime. In this world full of critics, can we just be supporters instead?” he said.
