‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ judge Robin Padilla demands contestant to learn Tagalog before talking to him

He’s one of the contestants looking the pass the auditions for the sixth season of “Pilipinas Got Talent.”

But you can bet that Kim Jiwan, a 20-year-old Korean who grew up in Muntinlupa, could not have imagined his journey on the show to start off so awkwardly.

His major bump came in the form of Robin Padilla, who criticized him for not learning Filipino despite living in the country for most of his life. This proved to be especially difficult for Jiwan, whose talent is close-up magic, as he needs to give out specific instructions for his tricks.

“Firstly, mag-Tagalog ka muna bago mo ako kausapin, (speak in Tagalog before you talk to me)” Padilla told Jiwan, pointing out that this was a show that’s focused on finding talented Filipinos.

Angel Locsin, Padilla’s co-judge, tried to help Jiwan by teaching him a few Tagalog words and by volunteering for his tricks.

It was at this point when things started to look up for Jiwan as his sleight of hand showcase won over not only Locsin and the crowd, but also Padilla.

Padilla even broke his stern stance as a result and allowed Jiwan to perform a trick for him, provided that he at least tries to speak a bit of Tagalog. He also apologized to Jiwan after giving him his nod to move on to the next round.

Pasensya ka na kasi mayroon akong kakilalang Koreano, si Ryan Bang, na mas magaling pang mag-Tagalog sa akin, (I hope you don’t mind because I know a Korean man, Ryan Bang, who speaks better Tagalog than me)” Padilla said, adding that he was impressed by Jiwan’s composure.

Jiwan will be moving past the auditions after getting three yeses, with the only no coming from Freddie Garcia, who explained that he didn’t do anything particularly new.

Meanwhile, netizens and viewers expressed their dismay over Padilla’s statement, saying the action star was being “rude” and even “racist”.

Report from ABS-CBN News; last paragraph added by Coconuts Manila editor.



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Comments

  1. Misplaced ang nationalism mo robin bad boy padilla, not being able to speak filipino fluently does not mean you do not love the philippines. What you did to the korean contestant was simply unprofessional and being uneducated, panu ka naging judge ng pgt ung simpleng respeto sa tao wala ka!

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