Dennis Gaviola

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17791728513852a72025e-404c-4bc1-8335-03ae31a85e93.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Beauty queen Joy Barcoma during her guest appearance on the debate program &#x27;YSpeak 2.0,&#x27; where she talked about being publicly vocal regarding social and political issues.<em> Screenshot from YSpeak 2.0&#x27;s YouTube channel</em></span></span></span></div><p>In today&#x27;s social media landscape, being &quot;performative&quot; — especially when it comes to speaking up on social and political issues — has come to describe people whose motives for taking a stand are often questioned, with beauty queen Joy Barcoma even likening the term to &quot;clout chasers.&quot;</p><p>But for the Miss Earth 2025 runner-up, people perceived as &quot;performative&quot; should not be hastily labeled as such when they choose to speak up on social issues. Instead, she believes they should be engaged in conversation so they can become more &quot;principled&quot; in their advocacies and beliefs.</p><p>Barcoma shared her thoughts in a recent episode of the youth debate program &quot;YSpeak 2.0,&quot; which tackled the topic of speaking up publicly on social and political issues.</p><p>&quot;If we&#x27;re going to label people, we&#x27;re also restricting them from becoming their full selves or from them to achieve their full capabilities as a person,&quot; the 27-year-old beauty queen said during her guest appearance in the show.</p><p>She also reminded audiences that &quot;we are all performative in a way.&quot;</p><p>&quot;We perform for people, we perform for the people that we love, we perform for ourselves. And if we&#x27;re gonna label people for speaking up, that ends the conversation, that ends the chance for them to also start a change,&quot; she said.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7fNkLYBgGyI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>At a time when such issues become divisive, &quot;Kailangan natin ng maraming kakampi at hindi natin kailangan ng maraming kalaban,&quot; Barcoma said.</p><p>&quot;Kung mayroon man tayong kilalang performative, we should just support them and encourage them na maging hindi lang performative, but a person that is actually principled when it comes to their advocacies or beliefs,&quot; she said.</p><p>The roundtable with hosts Elijah Canlas, Aya Fernandez, KD Estrada, Ralph de Leon and River Joseph also discussed how celebrities are often pressured to speak up on issues.</p><p>Relatedly, Barcoma said, &quot;Speaking up is actually a privilege.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Kaya hindi natin dapat pine-pressure &#x27;yong iba to speak up whenever they&#x27;re not yet ready because not everyone has a safety net,&quot; she said, noting that there are instances when being vocal about one&#x27;s views costs them their family or job opportunities.</p><div><br/></div><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2055948686820327563&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2026-05-19T06%3A51%3A07.503957%3Af944a8e3-780d-4c05-b538-a93aa4abf5c7%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=9dea9dabf8f9c57608ce23992272670c584ef256&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:485px;height:393px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="2055948686820327563"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>In a series of X posts, however, Barcoma clarified that her argument &quot;does not apply to people who have safety nets, access, influence, wealth, platforms, or power and still choose silence because the system benefits them.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Bottomline, the price of speaking up is different for the masses &amp; the privileged,&quot; she wrote.</p><p>Barcoma has recently become something of an internet darling, going viral for showcasing her funny and witty side on the vodcast &quot;Dogshow Divas,&quot; while also being outspoken online — and even on the streets, as<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2025/9/22/-panagutin-lahat-ng-kurakot-miss-ph-earth-joy-barcoma-nag-speech-sa-anti-corruption-rally-1835"><strong> she has attended recent anti-corruption rallies</strong></a> — about political issues.</p>

<p>For Joy Barcoma, people perceived as 'performative' should not be hastily labeled as such when they choose to speak up on social issues. </p>

For Joy Barcoma, people perceived as 'performative' should not be hastily labeled as such when they choose to speak up on social issues.

Joy Barcoma weighs in on ‘performative’ activism, online discourse

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Joy Barcoma weighs in on ‘performative’ activism, online discourse

ABS-CBN News

Published May 19, 2026 03:17 PM PHT

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