PH’s best bet for back-to-back Miss Universe win
Credit to Author: Arlo Custodio| Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2019 16:15:49 +0000
Beauty pageantry is entrenched in the Filipino culture. The excitement of fêting the most beautiful lass in the barrio or town initially as Reyna Elena for the Marian procession of Santacruzan dates as far back as the Spanish period.
Over time, the appreciation of pulchritude evolved into crowning Carnival Queens during the American regime in 1908. By 1926, Anita Agoncillo Noble became the very first Miss Philippines titleholder.
Unwittingly, the very first Miss Universe, Armi Kuusela of Finland, married Filipino businessman Virgilio Hilario and settled in what would be one of the pageant’s most ardent fan bases in Manila.
In 1969, Gloria Diaz put the Philippines prominently on the beauty pageant map when she was crowned Miss Universe.
It took four years for the Philippines to rule the Universe again when Margarita Moran was crowned in Athens, Greece in 1973. In 1974, when the world’s most prestigious beauty pageant was held in Manila for Moran to bequeath her crown, the country’s representative, Guadalupe Sanchez, made it to the Top 10. Amparo Muñoz of Spain won the crown that year.
In 1994, when Miss Universe was held in Manila the second time, Charlene Gonzales Bonnin made it to the Top 6, with Sushmita Sen of India winning the grand prize.
Placing every so often in the years to come — including Miriam Quiambao’s First Runner-Up win in 1999 — the Philippines became a force to reckon with at the pageant when the country emerged as the only one with successive Top 5 to Top 10 finishes from 2010 onwards, starting with Venus Raj as Fourth Runner-Up.
The following year, Shamcey Supsup was Third Runner-Up, and in 2012 Janine Tugonon was First Runner-Up to Olivia Culpo of USA.
In 2013, Ariella Arida was the only non-Latina to make it to the Top 5, finishing Third Runner-Up to Gabriela Isler of Venezuela. MJ Lastimosa broke the pattern in 2014 but her Top 10 placement was still good enough for beauty pageant-crazy Filipinos.
Then in 2015, Pia Wurtzbach ended the 43-year drought with a well-deserved crowning that was almost lost when Steve Harvey read his cue card wrong, and declaring Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner. The pageant had to go back on air surprising everyone for the correction to be made.
With the reigning queen a Filipina, it was auspicious to hold the pageant again in Manila 20 years later in 1994 but hometown candidate Maxine Medina could only make it as far as the Top 6.
Rachel Peters likewise made it to the Top 10 in 2017, but the following year, former Top 5 Miss World finisher Catriona Gray took another shot at representing the country in the Miss Universe pageant and proved to all she is beauty, intelligence and compassion rolled into one who was worthy of the crown.
Articulate, multi-talented and with a genuine heart for less fortunate children, the Filipino-Australian beauty from Albay was predicted to win even by the harshest critics. She proved to be as real as the hype when she nailed every phase of the contest and was crowned successor to Demi Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa in Bangkok, Thailand on December 17, 2018 amid the euphoric uproar of Filipinos watching the pageant at Impact Arena and millions watching on TV and live-streaming at home and abroad.
Gray not only raised the bar of beauty pageantry but is now considered to be of no par in any platform at this time.
From then on pageant fans have said her successor may have too large high-heeled shoes to fill.
Gazini Ganados on pageant night
With bated breath, the audience at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on June 9 excitedly waited who would be declared the most worthy flag carrier to bring a back-to-back win for the Philippines in the world’s most prestigious pageant.
Out of the 40 official Binibining Pilipinas 2019 candidates, two girls were deemed to be Gray’s worthy successor — the girl from Bataan, fresh Bar passer Bea Patricia Magtanong; and the lass from Talisay, Cebu Gazini Ganados. They both dominated the Special Awards, with Ganados winning Best in Long Gown and Face of Binibini or Miss Photogenic.
At the crucial question-and-answer portion, the 23-year-old Ganados was asked, “If you win the crown tonight, what can you do to get more women in the workplace?”
She replied, “If I win the crown tonight, what I will do is to promote my advocacy. My advocacy is for us women to fight for our rights and for elderly care and for us to be able to know that someone is loving and someone is pushing us to whatever ambitions that we have. We will be able to rise from our decisions to whatever dreams that we have, goals that we have, and we will achieve it because of those values, those wisdoms that they gave us.”
The crowd roared with applause and were content with the result if ever Ganados was proclaimed Miss Universe Philippines or Binibining Pilipinas-International.
The judges and the universe seemed to have connived. At the conclusion of the pageant, Miss International 2018 First Runner-Up Ahtisa Manalo crowned Magtanong as her successor and Gray crowned Ganados as her potential successor as Miss Universe.
Up close and personal
Born Gazini Christiana Jordi Acopiado Ganados on December 26, 1995 in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte in Mindanao to a Filipino mother and a Palestinian father, whom she never met, the future beauty queen was raised by her maternal grandparents.
Her family moved to Talisay, Cebu and resided there since she was in the sixth grade. She holds a double degree in Tourism Management and Health Care Services from the University of San Jose Recoletos in Cebu City.
Her first foray in beauty pageantry was in the Miss World Philippines 2014 where she made it to Top 13, won by Valerie Weigmann who succeeded Megan Young, the Philippines’ first-ever Miss World titleholder.
She was Miss Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation in 2016 and Miss Bohol First Runner-Up in 2017, representing the Municipality of Loon.
In an Instagram post on July 20, she addressed her Boholanon supporters, “I can’t believe I’m going to be a part of this pageant not as a candidate, but as a judge in the annual search for the quintessential Boholana beauties. This pageant is very close to my heart as I represented the Municipality of Loon in the Miss Bohol 2017 Pageant and this has propelled me to strive harder and work relentlessly to become a better version of myself!”
Being very close to her grandparents, her main advocacy is elderly care.
Also on Instagram on July 26, she shared, “My heart is full as President Duterte signed the law creating the National Commission for Senior Citizens [RA 11350]. It will be tasked to ensure the implementation of all laws and government programs aimed at ensuring the welfare of our lolos and lolas and to formulate policies for the protection and promotion of their rights. As an advocate for elderly care, I am always looking for feasible, sustainable and practical ways to help them live fully, healthy and happily. You can do your part too through acts of kindness and gratitude, big and small.”
She also thanked Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso “for uplifting the lives of the elders by encouraging local establishments to hire senior citizens and PWDs and for granting monthly allowance to the senior citizens.”
Ganados is Sustainable Development Goals Ambassador as well.
All set to sustain PH’s momentum
During the send off media conference for Ganados and the other two Binibini queens — Resham Saeed to the Miss Supranational in Poland on December 6 and Emma Tiglao to the Miss Intercontinental pageant in Egypt on December 20 — the professional ramp model under Cebu-based Origin Model & Artist Management shared that lechon would overflow on her homecoming as Miss Universe if ever.
“[There will be] free lechon here in Manila too for my homecoming,” joked the Talisay, Cebu stunner who recalled how her townmates welcomed her with a lechon festival when she won the top prize at Binibining Pilipinas in June.
“Even my float was designed like lechon,” she added laughing.
When The Sunday Times Magazine asked how she prepared for the competition given her predecessor’s sterling performance at Miss Universe last year, she replied, “We should not try to compare other girls with one another because each one is different, we have our own different stories, we’re representing different advocacies and supporting different organizations. I think the right question would be, ‘Would you be able to represent the Philippines the best way that you can?’ Thank you.”
While she used to shy away from the cameras, she said she has overcome that now and is doing great [in answering questions], making observers say that she devours the microphone [na-ngangain ng mic] during interviews.
Visiting her grandmother’s tomb on All Saints’ Day, Gazini emphatically noted, “I will always honor you in all of my victories and successes. You will always be my Universe. Today is all about you and I will always hold you deep in my heart. To the Best Nananiverse, Gihigugma ko ikaw [I love you].”
It would not be a wonder if her Nanay Remedios could be her guardian angel as she vies for the fifth Miss Universe crown for the Philippines with confirmed 92 other candidates at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia come December 8.
PHOTOS BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE AND ADDITIONAL PHOTOS FROM GAZINI
GANADOS’ INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT