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Filipina beauty queen and Miss Earth Philippines 2025, Joy Barcoma, expressed her disappointment over the controversial “halfie” issues that surfaced online over the past week.

“Disappointed ako kasi parang ni-represent mo na 'yung Philippines, tapos ang baba pa rin ng tingin mo sa mga Pinoy,” Joy said during one of her live broadcasts. “And it's not even about being half Filipino; [but], parang, the mindset towards Filipinos dahil half ka.”

Although disappointed, Joy Barcoma chose to be honest and shared her two cents on who should be blamed for how halfies look at Filipino: “Pero alam niyo kung may sisisihin ako, sisisihin ko 'yung mga sarili natin.

She explained: “[...] Masyado nating pinut sa pedestal 'yung mga taong may itsura, lalo na 'yung mga Eurocentric ang features.

“Tapos parang iba 'yung respeto natin kapag foreigner,” Joy added. “Tingnan niyo, kapag foreigner ang bisita, parang ang bait-bait natin, pero kapag kapwa Pinoy, parang wala tayong masyadong pasensiya.”

Joy emphasized, “Medyo tayo kasi naglagay ng ganoong level of privilege sa kanila, when in the first place, hindi dapat para hindi nila nafi-feel na meron silang leverage over us.”

Toward the end of her discussion, Joy said the issue has a silver lining because it opened conversations about the unspoken privileges of halfies.

She even had a suggestion for future beauty pageants: “Siguro dapat sa susunod, kapag magpa-pageant, dapat marunong mag-Tagalog, 'no? Kahit papaano. Kahit hindi makapagsalita, basta dapat nakakaintindi ng Tagalog, alam kantahin 'yung national anthem — tutal gusto niyong i-represent ang Philippines— dapat alam niyo kahit papaano 'yung mga basic words, basic phrases.”

The Miss Earth beauty queen said, “Magandang usapin siya kasi parang call out din 'yan sa atin; 'wag natin masyadong bigyan ng pribilehiyo 'yung mga foreigners na pumupunta rito sa country natin tapos ini-exploit lang 'yung pagka-Pinoy nila.”

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