On April 15, 2012, a new set of queens will be crowned as Binibining Pilipinas 2012 to represent us in the Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Tourism Queen International Beauty pageants. Beauty pageants divide pageant enthusiasts as they exchange brickbats when fighting for their queens. On the other hand, they also unite the people because they eventually root for the country’s representative as it becomes a source of pride for them most especially if they performed credibly in their international outing.
Years and years ago, the Filipina woman of the “kayumangging kaligatan” fame, once tagged as an “indio” by the Spanish conquistadores started to get out of the shackles of colonial labeling by being the Queen of the Carnival. The reference to the Dalagang Pilipina fame is but a rendition of how beautiful the Filipina is. The triumph of a small girl in the Miss Universe Pageant in 1969, Miss Gloria Diaz came as a great beacon light of hope to many young Filipinas who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. Why such an injustice? It is because the Filipina had been tagged as the prostitute in the Orient. They had been conjured images of mail order brides. They had been nothing but second rate copy cats. The victory in 1969 came as a joyous daybreak to once catapult to the arena that the Filipino woman is not only that of beauty, exoticism but brains and wit to that effect.
Four years later, another Filipina showed grace and élan in the country where mythology of the Gods and Goddesses started. Margarita Moran unwittingly snatched the crown from would be pretenders because of her royalty demeanor. Such act and class labeled the Filipina as one with “maharlika” (royal) bearing.
Years thereafter, the Filipina was still caught in the quagmire of vicious labeling. In the same vein, our beauty queens were trounced year after year in the pageant arena. Sometime in 1999, Mirriam Quiambao almost did it retouched with the Venezuelan formula. Thereafter, it was a lull and the seeming endlessness of the search for the right formula to win the crown never materialized. Even the Colombian training that went after Zorayda Ruth Andam failed to resuscitate the death throes of our aim to get the universal crown once again. Many people criticized the Colombian connection since that country never had the ability to make their bridesmaid performances realized into the eventual bride scene. The Philippine organizers were criticized further for sticking to an old formula when the criteria for beauty in the universal landscape are changing rapidly. And the Philippines is so resistant to change and firmly adhering with tradition and conservativeness.
The recent placement of Maria Venus Raj in 2010 and Shamcey Supsup in 2011 created new hopes for the Miss Universe hopefuls. As they say, Miss Universe is the pageant. And it is everyone’s gold standard for what a beauty pageant is. Pageant fanatics say that there is a certain prototype that the Miss Universe looks for. But look at Venus Raj. She had an unconventional beauty. On the same vein Shamcey had the standard beauty that was improved after she won. It is obvious that today, the Philippine organization in this case the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. had just accidentally stumbled on what the international pageant is looking for its queen. This is no time to rest on our laurels because for one, we did not win the crown. We just placed in the Top 5 and this is not enough to put us into tranquility. Now it is the time to rise from mediocrity. Now it is the time to lift the national pride through the beauty of the Filipina.
It would be fatal for the BPCI to overlook the urgency of the situation. The pageant circle is hungry for a win. The candidates are presently in a whirlwind of activities and are trying their best to show their best wares. Some did prepare long time ago. Some were only thrust into the pageant spotlight. Some are doing their lessons. But in the end, the organization will choose its winners.
There is this dream that I had. I saw that for the 2012 edition of the Binibining Pilipinas Beauty Pageant, rightful candidates were chosen based on their beauty, charm, proportioned bodies and their ability to project the totality of the New Filipina. I dreamt that the chosen ones are the girls that showed the epitome of grace, dignity and discipline. And I dreamt further that the girl who will win is an embodiment of the greater ideals of the Filipino people.
As we walk further, there those that may not be satisfied with the choices. We can never be satisfied. There would be more wants to be satisfied. Yes, we can never be. Even if we won the crown this year, we will yearn for more victories. We will yearn for more accolades. But in the end of the day, we must reminisce and see for ourselves where have we been so that we can chart our path again in response to the challenge of the changing times of the beauty landscape.
I wish therefore that the Beauty Pageant for 2012 will not only maintain the status quo. I wish that the pageant would look out of the box and see for them that there is a changing world out there and that we should adapt to that change that faces us. We may be left out again if we do not see the wisdom of what had happened in the two previous competitions.
That is my dream and I wished that it be granted.
Years thereafter, the Filipina was still caught in the quagmire of vicious labeling. In the same vein, our beauty queens were trounced year after year in the pageant arena. Sometime in 1999, Mirriam Quiambao almost did it retouched with the Venezuelan formula. Thereafter, it was a lull and the seeming endlessness of the search for the right formula to win the crown never materialized. Even the Colombian training that went after Zorayda Ruth Andam failed to resuscitate the death throes of our aim to get the universal crown once again. Many people criticized the Colombian connection since that country never had the ability to make their bridesmaid performances realized into the eventual bride scene. The Philippine organizers were criticized further for sticking to an old formula when the criteria for beauty in the universal landscape are changing rapidly. And the Philippines is so resistant to change and firmly adhering with tradition and conservativeness.
The recent placement of Maria Venus Raj in 2010 and Shamcey Supsup in 2011 created new hopes for the Miss Universe hopefuls. As they say, Miss Universe is the pageant. And it is everyone’s gold standard for what a beauty pageant is. Pageant fanatics say that there is a certain prototype that the Miss Universe looks for. But look at Venus Raj. She had an unconventional beauty. On the same vein Shamcey had the standard beauty that was improved after she won. It is obvious that today, the Philippine organization in this case the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. had just accidentally stumbled on what the international pageant is looking for its queen. This is no time to rest on our laurels because for one, we did not win the crown. We just placed in the Top 5 and this is not enough to put us into tranquility. Now it is the time to rise from mediocrity. Now it is the time to lift the national pride through the beauty of the Filipina.
It would be fatal for the BPCI to overlook the urgency of the situation. The pageant circle is hungry for a win. The candidates are presently in a whirlwind of activities and are trying their best to show their best wares. Some did prepare long time ago. Some were only thrust into the pageant spotlight. Some are doing their lessons. But in the end, the organization will choose its winners.
There is this dream that I had. I saw that for the 2012 edition of the Binibining Pilipinas Beauty Pageant, rightful candidates were chosen based on their beauty, charm, proportioned bodies and their ability to project the totality of the New Filipina. I dreamt that the chosen ones are the girls that showed the epitome of grace, dignity and discipline. And I dreamt further that the girl who will win is an embodiment of the greater ideals of the Filipino people.
As we walk further, there those that may not be satisfied with the choices. We can never be satisfied. There would be more wants to be satisfied. Yes, we can never be. Even if we won the crown this year, we will yearn for more victories. We will yearn for more accolades. But in the end of the day, we must reminisce and see for ourselves where have we been so that we can chart our path again in response to the challenge of the changing times of the beauty landscape.
I wish therefore that the Beauty Pageant for 2012 will not only maintain the status quo. I wish that the pageant would look out of the box and see for them that there is a changing world out there and that we should adapt to that change that faces us. We may be left out again if we do not see the wisdom of what had happened in the two previous competitions.
That is my dream and I wished that it be granted.
