Vice Ganda appeared concerned over an “It’s Showtime” contestant’s apparent unfamiliarity with the Malacañang Palace — even mistaking it for a municipal hall.
During the “It’s Giving” round of the noontime show’s “Laro Laro Pick” segment on Thursday, March 12, the participants were asked to name the items in the photos flashed on the screen. The host explained that the objects or concepts they would show are related to the Philippines and its culture.
Several contestants were eliminated after they were not able to recognize the photos that showed arnis, Mayon Volcano, luksong tinik, and San Juanico Bridge.
The Malacañang Palace was then shown to one of the participants, who also failed to answer.
“Hindi mo nakikita ‘yang larawan na ‘yan? D’yan namamalagi ang pangulo. San namamalagi ang pangulo? (Don’t you see that picture? That’s where the president resides. Where does the president reside?)” Vice Ganda asked, to which the contestant responded, “Ay, ano. Munispyo?” (Oh, is it a municipal hall?)
While the audience laughed, Vice Ganda seemed dismayed as he further hinted that the palace is where the president hosts official events.
“Mala—” host Jhong Hilario said, helping the contestant by giving the first two syllables of the answer.
However, the latter was still clueless and answered, “Malabon?”, before bursting into laughter.
“Natatawa ka pa ha,” Vice Ganda then said. “‘Yan ay Malacañang. Malacañang ‘yan ha. ‘Wag puro blush on tsaka highlighter sa TikTok ha?”
(You even find that funny. That is Malacañang, okay? Don’t just spend time putting on blush and highlighter [on your face], and scrolling through TikTok.)
After the game, Vice Ganda also pondered, “Minsan naiisip ko, ‘yun bang tinuro sa amin sa school dati, tinuturo pa rin ngayon? Kasi sa grade school ‘di ba tinuturo ‘yang mga ganyan? Hindi ko alam kung iba na ‘yung curriculum.”
(I often wonder if the things that were taught to us in school before are still being taught now. Because in grade school, those kinds of things were taught, right? I don’t know if the curriculum has already changed.”)
The segment episode also sparked discussions among netizens, who pointed out the crisis in education in the country.
“This is education crisis staring at us in the face,” X user @ToniSpeakEasy said. (Anne Pasajol © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
