GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
This year’s Miss World Philippines candidates are presented
The official candidates vying for the Miss World Philippines 2017 crown were presented to the press on Monday afternoon at the New World Hotel in Makati City.
All 35 of the young women on stage were clad in blue two-piece swimsuits, flaunting their hard-earned bikini bodies.
Miss World Philippines national director Arnold Vegafria said that he is "optimistic about the quality and diversity" of this year's batch of hopefuls.
"It's remarkable how today's young Filipina beauties are obviously more confident, principled, outspoken, but more importantly, driven with a bigger and nobler purpose," Vegafria said.
Pageant general manager Bessie Besana pointed out that this batch of 35 is the largest so far.
"This is definitely a record-breaking feat! Based on the numbers alone, we've never seen this kind of enthusiasm and interest during the past years," she said.
One of the early favorites, candidate no. 15 Laura Lehmann from Makati City, talked about her advocacy: education.
"I'm promoting education in the Philippines," she said. "What we do is we go around elementary schools, usually in rural areas, and we provide a day for the children. We teach them some things that are not in their typical curriculum and most importantly, we actually build a library in the elementary school," she said.
Candidate no. 24 Zara Carbonell is the daughter of actor Cris Villanueva. Asked about having a well-known father, she said that she is delighted that her dad supports her on her journey.
"I must say there is a little more attention to it, but I really love that my dad [is] very supportive of me and there's no comparison given, because we are both passionate of what we do and the fact that I am able to do something like what he does but not exactly that thing, is very, very nice and special to share it," she said.
While most of the candidates are in their early 20s, one contender did not let age hinder her from reaching her dream early: candidate no. 35 Sophia Sordan Senoron, who is the youngest in the group at 17.
"At a young age I really want to be able to help and I believe that Miss World is a great platform and a great opportunity for me to voice out my advocacies," she said. "One is women empowerment. For me, it's a great platform, but it also shows other children [in] my generation that we are capable of so many things if we put our minds into it."
Kapuso actress and candidate no. 9 Winwyn Marquez is no stranger to pageants, but said she also had "a lot of realizations" during this competition.
"[K]asi we had a lot of workshops, we had a lot of interviews, and it made me realize who I am more, sa totoo lang 'yung 'beauty with a purpose' mas na-realize ko na 'yun talaga 'yung purpose ko, to advocate, 'yung advocacy of education, 'yun talaga," she said.
Marquez said her heart is set on teaching and helping children.
"I was really inspired by my teachers. Sabi ko nga I was doubting myself before, feeling ko mag-gigive up na ako, and my teachers were there to bring me up and I want to be like them," she said.
"I want to help the children din na merong tao na hindi sila pababayaan and I'm here, gusto ko maging teacher nila. Gusto kong turuan sila, and andito ako ngayon para i-advocate sila. We have to share our knowledge, we have to share our time for them."
Winwyn is the daughter of actor-politicians Alma Moreno and Joey Marquez, and the niece of beauty queen Melanie Marquez.
"Hindi na importante 'yung factor na we came from a showbiz family, because we're all fair, lahat dito fair ang labanan," she said.
Apart from the Miss World Philippines title, three other crowns are up for grabs: Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2017, Miss Multinational 2017, and Miss Eco Philippines 2017.
The Miss World Philippines 2017 pageant will be held on September 3 at the Mall of Asia Arena. — BM, GMA News
