defined anew...

As a Binibining Pilipinas candidate, Precious Lara Quigaman brilliantly performed during the Question and Answer segment of the pageant, brushed her way up and bagged the Binibining Pilipinas – International title and the opportunity to represent the country in the Miss International pageant in Tokyo, where she eventually outwon fifty-one other candidates from different countries around the world.

Not discounting her undeniable charm and beauty, I believed Lara won the heart of the audience, the judges most especially, the same way she swept the Binibining International title in Manila. She surpassed the other finalists through her meaningful and sincere response to the intriguing question thrown on her by the emcee.

Lara reminded me of Gloria Diaz, another Filipina with a very prestigious beauty title, Miss Universe 1969, only eighteen years old when she was crowned. Although I was just a toddler that year, I grew up hearing my folks’ comments on how smart she is and how excellently she handled the question and answer portion, which most people thought earned her the crown. Later, I was able to watch the footages of her pageant and I agree with the people’s opinion that time. She shone brightly with her insights.

A lot had changed in the country and its people since the year Gloria Diaz won the Miss Universe. The Philippines then, was a developing country with a very bright future of leading the lower level set of developing countries in Asia. Sad to say, a lot of factors aborted the development, the Philippines remained a developing country, now miles and miles behind its contemporaries. To date, the negative factors over power everything that is good in the country and its people. The good went bad, the bad stayed bad, the good is clouded and can't break through...the limelight is focused on the dark side. Very seldom, these days, that you would hear good things about the Philippines and the filipinos. This is Lara’s generation…she came out in a time and situation where you need to work harder to obtain approval, to gain respect, to prove you are worth something because you deserve it.

With Lara’s natural intelligence and wit, she was able to honor her country, her countrymen, herself most importantly. She gave a new meaning to our primary skill export. And it was heard…the loud, warm applause from the international audience proved it, bringing home the crown is an acknowledgment that we, somehow had been elevated. The challenge remain for us to sustain it…

Below is the text (taken from an email) of what transpired during the final judging in Tokyo, choosing Miss International 2005.

Emcee: "What do you say to the people of the world who have typecasted filipinos as nannies?"

Lara: "I take no offense on being type casted as a nanny. But I do take offense that the educated people of the world have somehow degraded the true sense and meaning of what a nanny is. Let me tell you what she is. She is someone who gives more than she takes. She is someone you trust to look after the very people most precious to you - your child, the elderly, yourself. She is the one who has made a living out of caring and loving other people. So to those who have typecasted us as nannies, I thank you. It is a testament to the loving and caring culture of the Filipino people. And for that, I am forever proud and grateful of my roots and culture."

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.

Kahlil Gibran

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