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Beauty queen maker Jonas Gaffud on Monday night said the country’s own Maxine Medina could have fared better in the Miss Universe if the Philippines were not the hosts.
This was because Medina was put under a lot of pressure as host delegate to clinch a back to back victory for the Philippines, Gaffud told reporters at the red carpet of the afterparty in Okada Manila.
READ: No back-to-back for Philippines in Miss Universe
“Ang sabi ni Maxine after, kung hindi lang sa Pilipinas, siguro mas kaya niya lumaban. Nahirapan talaga siya sa pressure. Alam mo naman, iba ang pressure ng Pinoy, kailangang perfect ka lagi,” according to Gaffud, president of Mercator Artist and Model Management.
(What Maxine said after, was that if it were not held in the Philippines, maybe she could have given a better fight. She really found dealing with pressure difficult. You know the kind of pressure from Filipinos, you always have to be perfect.)
Gaffud gave this reaction after he was asked about the observation of Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes, who judged the coronation, that Medina lacked something which she could not pinpoint exactly.
READ: Dayanara ‘shocked’ Maxine did not make the Top 3
Gaffud brushed off some claims Medina could have fared better had she spoken in Tagalog. She answered the question and answer portion in English even though she had a standby interpreter.
“Wala tayong magagawa (We couldn’t do anything anymore.) I have everything for her to be able to do it. We gave everything for her. Pinaglaban namin interpreter and all (We fought for the interpreter and all),” Gaffud said.
READ: Miss Universe queens assess Maxine’s performance
The beauty queen maker said Medina had a standby interpreter to be sure she had all the options in case she feels more comfortable speaking in either language.
“Ang pinag-usapan namin, kung may interpreter, kung anong ma-fi-feel mo kung paano mo sagutin yung tanong, kung paano mo intindihin, kung Tagalog man siya o English, kung yun ang pagkakaintindi mo, dun ka sumagot,” Gaffud said.
(What we talked about was that, if there is an intepreter, she would answer the question in a language she would be more comfortable with, be it Tagalog or English. Based on how she understands it, she would answer that way.)
Gaffud said at the least, Medina did not give a wrong answer during the question and answer portion, where she was asked about a significant change in the past decade.
READ: Medina in Q & A: We are one as nation
“Kanina, nung medyo naisip ko, at least nag-English siya, dire-diretso. Pero siguro, hindi niya masyado na-internalize ‘yung tanong,” Gaffud said.
(When I thought about it, at least she spoke in straight English. But maybe, she did not really internalize the question.)
“But at least, hindi mali ‘yung kaniyang sagot (But at least, her answer was not wrong),” he added.
Gaffud said hosting the Miss Universes posed a lot of challenges for Medina, even though for him, she is one of the prettiest the Philippines has ever sent to the prestigious international beauty pageant.
“The challenges were, one to make her stand out among 86 candidates. Alam nating sobrang gaganda ngayon (We know that the candidates are very pretty). Second, to ace the question and answer. And third, to be a good host delegate,” Gaffud said.
“It’s in the Philippines, I know it’s very difficult. But it’s something we should be proud of,” he added.
Maxine made it to the top six, but fell out of the top three after the question and answer portion. IDL
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