"I WILL request if I have to."
This was the response of Maxine Medina on the issue of getting an interpreter in case she makes it to the Top 5 of the Miss Universe pageant.
The 26-year-old believes there's nothing wrong if she uses the option to have an interpreter if she thinks it will help her chances in the competition.
"Napakaganda ng Tagalog. There's this one time Pia (Wurtzbach) and I were talking and all the candidates were like, 'Oh, it's so nice to hear you talking in Tagalog'. So, walang masama kung magta-translate tayo. I'm here also to win," she said.
Medina is on the spotlight after she received negative comments over her poor command of the English language.
Mark Arthur Abalos, her training specialist from John Robert Powers, recently came to her defense and said the beauty queen has been training since April to improve her communication skills.
Abalos said it is normal to commit grammatical errors especially when English is not one's first language.
Meanwhile, Gloria Diaz, the first Filipina to bring home the Miss Universe crown, encouraged Medina to get an interpreter if the latter feels more comfortable asserting herself in Tagalog.
Diaz, who won the title in 1969, said it doesn't make her less of a beauty queen if she will use her mother tongue in the final question and answer portion.
"[G]et an interpreter if she feels that she can better express her thoughts using our vernacular language. She is a Filipina and I don't think it will make her less of a beauty queen if she will decide to use our language on the Grand Coronation," she was quoted saying at the Governor's Ball held last January 16 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
Miss Universe 1999 first runner-up Miriam Quiambao also agreed with Diaz's sentiment.
She said that it is important that Medina is comfortable with the language she will use and if an interpreter helps to win the title, then the latter can do so.
"She might want to consider mag-Tagalog na lang siya. Gumamit na lang tayo ng interpreter, kung dun siya magiging kumportable," Quiambao said.
The former beauty queen added that she appreciates Medina’s efforts to improve her communications skills.
"What I appreciate about her is she is sure of her answers and she is confident when she tells them."
Medina and 85 other ladies will compete for the Miss Universe crown on January 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. (VoxPop Philippines)
