By Eva C. Visperas

 

THIS time, our news coverage takes a break from politics and delves into the realm of beauty, focusing not on a woman’s physical beauty but the totality of her personality.

Beauty, brains, wit, poise, glamour, and intelligence—these qualities were going to be on display as our group of six local media representatives proceeded to the Vegetable Bowl of Pangasinan on November 6. Our mission: To judge and select the Darling of the Press for Miss Villasis 2024, a highlight of the annual and exciting Talong Festival held every January.

Manang Dita, the ever-supportive wife of Mayor Nato Abrenica, warmly greeted us as we ascended to their conference room where the judging was to take place. Alongside the Abrenica couple, members of the Sangguniang Bayan led by Vice Mayor Cheryll Tan joined us.

A noteworthy aspect of Villasis officials is their felt unity for their town, a trait that stands out.

Looking at 10 candidates, we noted their almost identical height. (We were told that only 10 remained out of the original 13 aspirants for Miss Villasis 2024, as three didn’t meet the minimum height requirement during the pre-screening). Minus their high heels, they had to be 5’4″ tall, like the requirements for the next Limgas na Dayat search.

The height standard was crucial, as the next Miss Villasis will be the official candidate of the town in the next Limgas na Dayat provincial beauty pageant. According to Pangasinan First Lady Maan Tuazon-Guico, herself a beauty, and chairperson of the provincial pageant, the Limgas winner will automatically become the official candidate of the province in the next Miss World Philippines search.

Recall that Ms. Maan announced this process in the last Limgas pageant and it was formalized when she and Gov. Guico attended the signing ceremony for the agreement  with Miss World Philippines Organization officials.

The agreement? “Miss World Philippines Organization… signed agreement between the Miss World Philippines Organization and the local government of Pangasinan, that the winner of the annual Limgas na Pangasinan pageant will automatically qualify to join the Miss World Philippines pageant”.

This new policy allows the Miss World Philippines Organization to expand its search for aspiring Filipina queens at the grassroots level, ensuring fair and equal representation from the country’s major cities.

Necessarily, the winners in the town or city level should be chosen carefully for a chance to win that much-coveted crown and eventually earn the opportunity to represent the country in the international beauty pageant stage.

Before the Q&A session with the Miss Villasis hopefuls, efforts were made to make them feel comfortable. We assured them that the questions would be easy, focusing on topics that matter most to them. The aim was to create an atmosphere where they would be discussing life with their titas, titos, or older friends.

In fact, our judging panel, all representatives of media, this paper, Inquirer, The Manila Times, the Philippine Star, DWIZ/PNA, and DWIZ, have been invited numerous times to pageants like this for the selection of the Darling of the Press or Media Darling. It serves as a prelude to more intensive questioning for the big night’s Q&A portion by respected personalities and beauty titlists invited as judges.

In the Villasis event, all the candidates were articulate. Some delivered concise answers with depth, demonstrating their level of social awareness. The questions covered a range of topics, from beauty care and physical assets to online dating, town potentials, product promotion, the relevance of mainstream media in the age of bloggers and vloggers, and the candidates’ choices, of course, and why.

One candidate’s spontaneous and emotional response moved not only the judges but the audience as well, reflecting the beauty of answers straight from the heart—unrehearsed and genuine.

It was a spontaneous, logical, emotional yet logical expression of one’s beauty.

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