Teacher on ‘It’s Showtime’ fails to name first female PH president, sparks outrage and lessons

A September 19 episode of the popular noontime show “It’s Showtime” turned heads on social media when contestant Tony, a teacher with a master’s degree pursuing a doctorate, incorrectly answered a question about Philippine history.

When asked who the first female president of the Philippines was, he responded, “Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,” missing the correct answer: Corazon “Cory” Aquino.

Aquino served as the first female president of the country from 1986 to 1992 after the People Power Revolution that ousted Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Arroyo, who served later, was the 14th president and the second woman in office.

The show’s segment, titled “Throwbox,” tests contestants with general knowledge questions.

Contestants choose a box that corresponds to a question, and Tony had hoped for a straightforward game.

“Di ba? Dapat alam nating lahat ‘yon [We should all know that, shouldn’t we],” joked host Tyang Amy Perez, expressing surprise at Tony’s answer.

Despite this slip-up, Tony redeemed himself in later questions and won P50,000.

However, his initial mistake ignited a wave of reactions online. The hashtag #ShowtimeLarongLaro quickly trended, with viewers sharing their thoughts on his response.

Reactions varied widely on social media. Some commenters noted that online classes might have impacted his knowledge.

One user, Chard Cabatic, remarked, “Mahirap talaga ‘pag puro online class yung turo [It’s really difficult when all the classes are taught online].”

Another, Mark Angelo Drio, suggested Tony might consider halting his doctorate studies, saying, “Kung ako sa kanya, ihihinto ko na ang pag-aaral ko ng doctorate [If I were him, I would stop my doctorate studies].”

Another netizen, Culipapa Renejeor Nhoj, wrote: “Di n’ya pwde sabihin kinabahan sya.. at hello for that question. Kakabahan ka ba? Na tapat pa na ang tanong is related sa history ng Pilipinas .. pero anyways…. At least nabawasan ang yabang nya [He can’t say he was nervous… and hello, for that question. Would you be nervous? Especially since the question is related to Philippine history… but anyway… at least his arrogance has lessened.”

Meanwhile, educators came to his defense. 

Joselito D. Delos Reyes, a resident fellow of the University of Santo Tomas Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies, said it is normal to make mistakes but mentioned the need for humility. 

“Nagkakamali naman kasi talaga tayo. At hindi ito masyadong halata kung sisimulan natin sa pagpapakumbaba. Take it from me, may outstanding dissertation award pero hindi marunong magbukas ng Jelly Ace. [We do make mistakes, and it’s not too obvious if we start with humility. Take it from me. I have an outstanding dissertation award but I can’t even open a Jelly Ace],” Delos Reyes said. 

John Paul Mallo Palmes, a former teacher, said the video was edited. It made it seem it was Teacher Tony who started talking about his masters degree. However, the raw version shows one of the hosts first asked him what he has been up to.

“Tony is not arrogant. He even asked for an apology for committing the mistake kasi nga kinakabahan siya [because he was nervous] and that’s a thing of an intelligent person: accepting mistake. I find those with master’s degrees who don’t know how to fact-check, investigate or do research more stupid],” Palmes said. 

The incident raised questions about the real contribution of postgraduate degrees in real life learning. Meanwhile, some netizens reflected on the high expectations society places on educators and the knowledge they are presumed to have.