Mutya ng Batangan 2011

Lemery’s beauty queen has more than good looks

    She might haveslipped, but she 

stood  up with poise and her best smile

   She gained the respect of the judges and the audience last year at the search for Binibining Lemery 2010 when she refused to show more skin in the pageant that landed her in the 2^nd runner up.  

   But it was how Reinelle Matanguihan  picked herself up with poise after she fell onstage and had a wardrobe malfunction during the recent press presentation of Mutya ng Batangan 2011 got her the one of the biggest confidence points. 

   Reinelle is Lemery town’s bet for the upcoming search for the Mutya ng Batangan 2011, a provincial beauty search that would culminate on December 3.

   “I was already trembling with fear at that time, and was also shocked at the reaction of the audience, but I know I should exude confidence whatever happens,” Reinelle said,” and so I picked myself up with poise, and it gave them my best smile.”

   The applause from the audience told her she did good.  At 20, Reinelle is currently taking Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) where she also landed the 4^th runner up crown in the search for Binibining PUP 2011.

      Challenged by the bikini, Reinelle knows 

 how to flaunt her best figure.

   For a  part time model, who loves to Reinelle says she’s never  worked out in the gym. Thanks to her good metabolism, she never gains weight.

In the modelling industry, it’s unavoidable to meet some people who looks down on models or compare them to brainless mannequins

   “If they think that walking the beam to practice the runway walk is brainless, then they should try it with their eyes closed.  Models do that gracefully all the time, and it takes a lot of brains cells to do the balancing, and a lot of courage to stand up with poise when we fall,” Reinelle,” The modelling industry is one of the toughest businesses in the world, and it takes a lot of brainpower to stay on.”

   At the university, Reinelle is fascinated with the sciences, and biology is her favourite.  After school, is she doesn’t have a modelling engagement, she just stays at home and read reference books and in her spare time, Michael Crichton novels.

   “Reading is food for the brain.  And every beauty should love reading as it sharpens the mind.  Newspapers also make me aware of all the issues happening around me. Being a beauty queen also means being a good role model,” Reinelle added.

   Reinelle believes that a beauty queen should be more than beautiful.

“Some girls think that their beauty can make them successful. But I always tell them that beauty fades and when that happens, they’ll be left only with wrinkles and old age,” Reinelle said,” But you are smart, educated, and oozing with confidence, time will be your best friend, and like wine, you’ll get better with age.”
  Lemery's bet for Batangas' most prestigious beauty pageant proves as early as now that she doesn't just have the beauty and body of a winner, but the brains of a real queen.