That other awkward Miss Universe 2015 moment

 

I got a lot of questions asking for reactions to the first round of QnA’s for the Miss Universe 2015. Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach was asked what she thought about US military presence in the Philippines. She answered in the affirmative. She welcomed it, citing our current ties with the US as well as the history of American colonization as among the factors for allowing US troops and bases in our country.

I got sought for comments soon after the controversial remarks.

Let me begin by saying that the question about allowing US military presence in the Philippines wasn’t a fair one to begin with. It was calculated to elicit a “YES” response, considering that the contestant was under a lot of pressure. Saying “NO” to US troops, in front of a predominantly American crowd, would likely harm her chances of winning. Perhaps she wasn’t prepared to take that risk. She went with the “safe” and “popular” answer, at least for the home crowd.

Could she have answered differently? Of course. That would have been awesome, if she did. But I can’t really presume to know what was going on in her mind at the time, or the pressure she was feeling.

I only hope that after all this, she would keep an open mind when it comes to contrary views on the issue. Our history of American colonization was brutal and nothing to be proud of. I hope she would find time in the future to sit down with the victims of abuses by US troops, many of whom are women.

Hindi pa naman siguro yun ang FINAL, FINAL answer nya.

All the best and congratulations to our Kababayan, the new #‎MissUniverse2015 .

 

P.S.

We have no ill-feelings towards Pia. Neither are we against Americans per  se. We are in solidarity with the American working class and other oppressed sectors in the US. What we criticize are US foreign and economic policies; the system that is imperialism and the problems it has created worldwide. This includes the stationing of US troops overseas and the military aggression carried out in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

For the record, we’ve also protested Chinese incursions. We organized the biggest protest in front of the Chinese embassy in Makati last June 12. A simple Google search would bear this out.