How did the Philippines fare in the international pageant arena this year? Did we do better or worse than last year?
Since Venus Raj’s drought-breaking 4th runner-up finish at Miss Universe 2010, the Philippines won 2 Miss Universe crowns, 2 Miss International crowns, 3 Miss Earth crowns and 1 Miss World. Despite having major losses in some international pageants this year, the Philippines continues its winning streak!
2018 International Titles
Miss Asia Pacific International, Sharifa Akeel
Miss Eco-International, Cynthia Thomalla
Miss Multinational, Sophia Señoron
Miss Tourism Worldwide, Zara Carbonell
Miss Intercontinental 2018, Karen Gallman
In terms of international pageants outside the Alpha pageants, the Philippines has had varying degrees of success. Jehza Huelar made it to the top 10 of Miss Supranational, Michele Gumabao was a semifinalist in Miss Globe and countless other placements and victories in lesser known international pageants. We did score wins in other international pageants, notable of which are Karen Gallman, Sharifa Akeel, Cynthia Thomalla and Sophia Senoron (all Kagandahang Flores trained ladies). Zara Carbonell’s win as Miss Tourism Worldwide further cemented the illustrious batch of the 2017 Miss World Philippines winners.
Karen Gallman’s victory as the first Filipina Miss Intercontinental has raised the Philippines further up into the pageant stratosphere. This is the first win for the country since the pageant’s establishment in the 70’s. Sharifa Akeel’s win as Miss Asia Pacific International is the 5th win since the pageant was established in 1968 (it was first known as Miss Asia before growing to Miss Asia Pacific and now to its current format). Prior to Sharifa’s win, four Filipinos were crowned in past iterations of the pageant. They were Maria del Carmen Ines Zaragoza (1982), Gloria Dimayacyac (1983), Lorna Legaspi (1989), and Michelle Aldana (1993). Cynthia Thomalla winning in Miss Eco International was the first international victory in the year 2018 before being immediately followed up by Sophia in Miss Multinational in India.
Major Losses of 2018
Katarina Rodriguez’ 1st runner up finish in Miss Intercontinental 2017 earlier in January 2018 was dealt with a devastating non-placement in Miss World last December. While there were missteps made on both sides, there was no offered satisfactory explanation on Katarina’s disqualification at the BWAP and talent segments. If Katarina’s rumored martial arts presentation wasn’t considered an acceptable talent then how come Catharina Choi Nunes of Brazil was allowed to do a taekwondo demonstration for the Miss World 2015 talent competition? Another major loss was that of Alyssa Muhlach in Reina HispanoAmericana. An understandable loss considering she only had less than two weeks time to prepare for the competition. Eva Patalinjug’s shocking non placement in the Miss Grand International pageant is deemed to be an unjust decision. The pageant’s judging panel comprised of a national director and a designer/pageant trainer/ friend of a candidate, which puts the judging process in question. More so the questionable ethics of the pageant owner and the pageant itself…
The 4 Alpha Pageants
Miss World Philippines, Katarina Rodriguez
Miss Philippines Earth, Silvia Cortesi
Bb. Pilipinas International, Ahtisa Manalo
Miss Universe Philippines, Catriona Gray
Three out of 4 possible placements isn’t a bad achievement specially with the year ending with a major win in Miss Universe courtesy of Catriona Gray. Silvia Cortesi made top8 in Miss Earth and Ahtisa Manalo almost won the Mikimoto crown in Japan last November.
Over all, the year started with a bang with a handful of crowns courtesy of Karen, Sharifa, Zara, Cynthia and Sophia, and ended with the Philippines earning the most coveted international title of all, the Miss Universe crown. While we celebrate every victory we had this past year, we can predict that 2019 will be overshadowed online by every move that Catriona Gray will be making as Miss Universe. So we are hoping that the next set of national winners will be able to face being scrutinized based on the achievements of their predecessors. And we pray that pageant fans would be less aggressive or vile on social media on these ladies this year. On a final note, we do wish fervently that the winning streak would continue this 2019.
NOTE: this blogpost was originally posted in January 15th and has been edited to include updates on Karen Gallman’s win.
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