Alma Concepcion in a scene from the movie 'Babagwa'.
Actress and Binibining Pilipinas-International 1994 Alma Concepcion has come out in defense of 2013 Binibining Pilipinas-Universe Ariella Arida who became the subject of Mo Twister’s social media rants earlier this week.
Arida was being interviewed by broadcast journalist Karen Davila in her ANC program “Headstart” when the subject of her supposedly weak command of the English language was brought up. The 24-year-old Chemistry major from Laguna then responded to a Twitter user’s comment by saying that she has already undergone a lot of communication skills training in preparation for the Miss Universe pageant and was confident she could deliver without needing an interpreter.
Concepcion, who recently staged a successful big screen comeback playing a pivotal character in the acclaimed Cinemalaya indie feature, “Babagwa (The Spider’s Lair)”, agrees with Arida’s remarks.
“I was able to watch the video and Ara’s English construction is actually understandable. She was very humble enough to admit that she is indeed doing her best. It’s impressive to see her efforts and she’s actually successful in putting her message across,” she told Interaksyon in a recent interview.
Mo Twister (real name: Mohan Gumatay), however, took exception to a particular portion of Arida’s interview where she argued that there are many contestants in international beauty pageants who don’t necessarily have a good command of the English language, citing Latinas in particular as an example.
Gumatay’s lengthy Instagram post reads:
“I don’t intend to bash on our Ms Philippines here but how the fuck is this not considered offensive toward Latinas? I mean, we ALWAYS get so sensitive when someone says anything about us Filipinos (see Dan Brown, Alec Baldwin, and every other time we screamed murder) yet our girl representing our country, in a legit interview regarding the competition, says Latinas can’t put a sentence together in English. That would royally piss me off if I were of Latin descent. I’m pretty sure we would lose our minds if we heard an interview of a contestant saying “Filipinos can’t string a sentence together” and our Senator/Congressman would persona non grata that bitch immediately. I’m also quite certain that a few of the Latina contestants can cook up a few intelligible lines in English that would leave Ariella here dizzy in her heels. Best of luck to her in the competition. Now back to my NBA Fantasy Team.”
Arida immediately tweeted an apology about the issue on Tuesday shortly before flying to Moscow, Russia where the pageant will take place.
OM sorry. I didn't mean to offend anyone from my last interview. I hope you guys can understand what Im trying to say.
— Ariella Arida (@araarida) October 22, 2013
Concepcion said she understands what Arida meant and called Gumatay’s response as “off and offensive”.
“Ara’s comment about Latinas is actually real, that they really do need interpreters in Q&A portions. Ara is about to compete and all she needs right at this very crucial stage is boosting from everyone and not that kind of bashing. She is doing her best and there’s coherence in her English. There’s nothing wrong with that if we view it from the international perspective,” the actress noted.
One of Arida’s trainers, Jonas Gaffud of Mercator modeling agency, also tweeted that she did not mean to disparage anyone with her remarks in that “Headstart” interview.
“I have nothing against Mo Twister. But to clarify, Ara meant lang she’s ok with her communication skills because a lot of other girls don’t speak good English in Miss Universe. It’s about speaking English in pageants, not to downgrade anyone who doesn’t speak well…Our Miss Philippines, Ara Arida is very humble. So i hope people won’t judge her on how some people interpret it. Peace to all,” Gaffud posted on Twitter.
Concepcion added that she doesn’t see anything wrong should Arida decide to use an interpreter at the last minute.
“I believe that intelligence isn’t measured by the kind of language a person uses. There are intelligent deaf/mutes around. It’s the content of what you say that will matter and for me, the content of Mo’s statement is shallow compared to the essence of the statements Ara made,” she said.
With regards to Arida’s chances of bagging the Miss Universe crown, Concepcion said the former has that “winning look”.
“Tall, tan, thin, big eyes, large forehead, big smiles have been a common trait of Shamcey, Miriam, Megan, Venus and the others. We finally got the look that clicks internationally,” she pointed out.
Given how well the aforementioned girls fared in international beauty pageants, Concepcion conceded that there is indeed a lot of pressure for Arida to win it all.
“The pressure is indeed on Ara since we have been doing well over the last few years especially now that Megan just won, I’m sure she could feel the people’s high expectations on her.”
Concepcion said she could personally relate to Arida as she herself was in a similar situation back in 1994 when her contemporaries, then Binibining Pilipinas-Universe Charlene Gonzalez and Binibining Pilipinas-World Cara Subijano, both made it to the semifinals with Charlene even making it as far as the Top 6.
“I was the last to compete internationally so I had more time to prepare and I knew I was in my best form. Fortunately, I made it to the top 15 and even won a special award,” she recalled.
For Arida to win, Concepcion said preparation is key.
“Every candidate has a chance of winning. It all depends on the preparation and training of a candidate. Over-preparation is always better than otherwise. It depends on Ara’s pre-pageant performance, in particular. She has to stand-out from the pre-pageant until the end.”
Alma Concepcion defends Miss Universe PH Ariella Arida vs Mo Twister
Source: InterAksyon.com (October 24, 2013 at 12:12PM)
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