Ferdinand Magellan Jr.? Jeopardy Just Referenced the Philippine President’s Extensive Travels
Who could it be?
(SPOT.ph) U.S. game show Jeopardy! just made a reference to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in its latest episode on Tuesday, February 21, PH time.
In the wager round of the show, the Final Jeopardy question read: “In office from 2022, the president of this country has taken so many foreign trips a play on his name is “Ferdinand Magellan Jr.’”
Only 21-year-old Avi Gupta got the correct answer of “What is the Philippines?" adding a quick note of “Thank you mom” at the bottom.
It was the winning answer that placed Gupta at the semi-finals of Jeopardy’s High School Reunion Tournament. In 2019, Gupta won the 2019 High School Tournament with a U.S. $100,000 win—and now he’s a step closer to reclaiming that title.
Jeopardy references Bongbong Marcos in game show
The game show has dubbed Marcos as "Ferdinand Magellan Jr.," which mixes his name with that of Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the world and whose fate ended in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Marcos Jr. has visited a total of nine countries in the eight months since he assumed office.
According to the Official Gazette, the purpose of international trips is to “foster and maintain” relations with other countries. It can either be classified as a state visit, an official visit, or a working visit, ostensibly funded by our country's money.
One of Marcos’ more controversial travels include his trip to Singapore in September 2022, where he was spotted at the elite car racing Formula 1 Grand Prix with his son Sandro Marcos. It was called a "partly official, partly personal" trip by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin,
Also read: Formula 1 'Best Way to Drum Up Business', Says Marcos on Singapore Trip
The full list of countries Marcos has visited so far
Here are the nine countries that Marcos visited in the last eight months:
- Indonesia (September 4 to 6)
- Singapore (September 6 to 7)
- United States (September 18 to 24)
- Singapore (October 1 to 3)
- Cambodia (November 9 to 13)
- Thailand (November 16 to 19)
- Belgium (December 12 to 14)
- China (January 3 to 6)
- Switzerland (January 15 to 20)
- Japan (February 8 to 12)
It can be recalled that his mother, Imelda Marcos, was also known for her extensive travels as former first lady of the Philippines. Imelda's visits to the U.S. caused such a buzz that then-U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger stated that she is “regarded more as a pest than a guest" in a 1976 memo to the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
In spite of the Marcoses’ frequent travels, it is actually former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who holds the title for the most foreign trips by a Philippine president with a total of 81 trips in 40 countries during her nine-year presidency.
Watch the Jeopardy segment below.
Also read: GMA, PNoy, and BBM: How First Children Become Presidents