Pinoy Big Brother Connect housemate Justin Dizon has become the subject of controversy online after he made an insensitive remark towards his fellow housemate Jie-Ann.
In a clip that went viral last week, Justin had told Jie-Ann, who had just come out of the shower, that he and the others were talking about her because she “doesn’t take a bath.” He was then seen wiping his hands on the towel that she had wrapped around her head. Jie-Ann, however, shrugged off his actions, saying, “Wala akong pakialam. Sanay na ako sa ganiyan. (I don’t mind. I’m used to it.)”
“Sabagay, marumi ka nga pala (Well, you are filthy),” Justin replied.
Filipino netizens criticized Justin for his attitude towards Jie-Ann, who had mentioned to Big Brother inside the confession room that the reason why she doesn’t bathe regularly is that her family has difficulty accessing clean water every day where she lives in Saranggani.
“Wala po kaming tubig minsan doon (Sometimes, we don’t have water there),” she said. “Binibili pa po. (We’re still buying them.)”
She also revealed that her family can only order three containers, costing PHP12 each, which they use for essentials. “Pagsasaing, paghuhugas, at pag-inom (For cooking, for washing, and for drinking),” she enumerated. “Kaya minsan, hindi po ako nakakaligo, kasi maliit lang po ‘yung mga container namin. Tinitipid pa po namin ‘yung tubig. (That’s why sometimes I don’t bathe, because our containers are small. We’re saving our water.)”
Pinoy Big Brother then uploaded a clip of Justin apologizing for his words and acknowledging his privilege.
“If ever you felt offended with those jokes I want to say sorry for them kasi ‘yun nga I forgot to realize na iba tayo [ng environment na kinalakihan] (because I forgot to realize that the environments we grew up in are so different),” he told Jie-Ann. “I want to say sorry for saying those jokes to you because, like, they are insensitive. Hindi ko naisip (I didn’t think) initially, your background and my background, how different they are. So ‘yun nga (that’s it) I’ll try my best to be more sensitive to how you feel.”
He also admitted to Big Brother that the criticism he faced as a consequence of his attitude led him to a “very quick introspection.”
“It is still a responsibility to accept your mistake and learn something about it, apologize and, you know, magkaroon ka ng (have) character development or something like that,” he said.
(ALSO READ: LOOK: Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson Reunite with Pinoy Big Brother Batchmates)
Watch the clip here:
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