Bongbong Marcos called 'Ferdinand Magellan Jr.' in US game show amid foreign trips
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was featured in the latest episode of American game show Jeopardy! as someone who had "taken so many foreign trips."
In the episode uploaded on YouTube on Feb. 22, host Mayim Bialik, during the Current World Leaders category, gave contestants clues that would lead to the name of the country that has a president "in office from 2022," went on a slew of foreign trips, and "a play on his name is 'Ferdinand Magellan Jr.'"
In Jeopardy!, contestants aren't asked questions but are instead given clues about a person, place, thing, or event. They must then provide questions as answers.
Contestants responded with "What is Spain" (Alison Purcell, University of Texas) "What are the Philippines," (Avi Gupta, Stanford University) and "What is Ukraine" (Jack Izzo, Northwestern University).
Gupta also added "Thank you mom" to his winning answer.
"Ferdinand Marcos Jr., also known as Bongbong," Bialik noted as Gupta answered correctly.
Richard Heydarian, an academic and columnist, caught wind of the episode and on Twitter said Jeopardy! owes him attribution to the moniker.
In a Jan. 14 tweet, Heydarian noted how Marcos Jr. is already on his 8th foreign trip seven months since assuming office, calling him "Ferdinand 'Magellan' Jr."
Magellan was a Portugese explorer who led the 1519 Spanish expedition to circumnavigate the globe. He was killed during the Battle of Mactan in Cebu after an encounter with the tribe led by Lapulapu.
Heydarian talked about the moniker further in his Jan. 17 column titled "Marcos Jr.: A world traveler?," noting how "some netizens have begun to describe the President as Ferdinand 'Magellan' Jr."
To date, Marcos already had a total of ten foreign trips: Indonesia, Singapore, the United States, Singapore again, Cambodia, Thailand, Belgium, China, Switzerland, and Japan.
His unannounced return to Singapore to watch the elite car racing Formula 1 Grand Prix last October drew mixed reactions.
For its part, Malacañang said the president's foreign trips help establish ties with world leaders, having generated a total of 116 investment projects worth P3.4 trillion.
