Former Miss Philippines Earth Imelda Schweighart stood by her statement saying that she hates K-pop despite receiving backlash from the netizens. She said that she just wants people to have their own identity.
In an online interview with Abante, the beauty queen mentioned that even though she came from a musical family, she never listened to K-pop and stated that Filipinos should appreciate the music that their own country has.
“I grew up in a musician family. Everybody sings, everybody’s an artist in my family. And I don’t listen to that music,” she said.
“I think that it’s a chance for every Filipino to really look within and actually appreciate what we have right now,” she added.
She explained that people are lying to themselves by supporting K-pop stars. She also said that the root of her hatred comes from her passion as a musician.
“It’s easy to support people that are backed by big corporations, but I think it’s more fulfilling for fans if they’re the ones who really discover the artist… We can’t keep on continuing to see that machine that, oh it’s amazing kasi like sobrang papayat, sobrang gawang-gawa. And these kids are not aware that they are shaping their lives and morphing their brains into believing this lie,” she explained.
“And for me, parang it’s passion, that thought out of me that said ‘I hate K-pop.’ It’s passion. I just hate it and… I want us to have our own identity,” she added.
Imelda further explained that the Filipino people should immerse themselves in the variety and diversity of Philippine music instead of supporting K-pop just because other people are doing so.
“It’s an eye-opener as well for people… not everybody loves K-pop and we as Filipinos and media providers shouldn’t just be supporting something just because maraming fans. We should be feeding people with variety, diversity… Let’s not support body and face dysmorphia,” she said.
However, she noted that she can understand the Filipinos as she said that there aren’t many choices in terms of music here in the Philippines. She said that the music industry in the country keeps on doing the same thing over that’s why there is no creativity.
“I am not against the fans, I think they just don’t have enough choices to pick from here in the Philippines. Wala silang enough choice, wala ngang variety. That’s what I’m trying to point out,” said Imelda.
“They tune to K-pop, K-drama, and all these other stuff because they don’t have variety. We don’t honor creativity here. We just keep on doing the same thing over and over again. And I’m sick of it. And some people are sick of it as well,” she added.
Aside from being a beauty queen, Imelda Schweighart is also a singer-songwriter. Some of her singles include “Power Trip,” “Bubba Luva,” and “Super Wave.”
Previously, she trended on social media after netizens bashed her for her comments about hating K-pop.
“I hate K-pop,” Imelda said in one of her Facebook posts.
In another post, she wrote, “Filipinos are losing their identity trying to be like Koreans. Konting pride, please?”
She also compared the English speaking skills of Filipinos and Koreans saying that Pinoys are better at speaking in English.
In the third post, she added saying, “Di hamak na mas magaling namang mag-English mga Pinoy kesa Korean. Kala ko ba Chinese nananakop? I think we’re getting it wrong. Lagi na lang tayong sinasakop,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
