Mutya ng Batangan 2011

Rosario's feisty beauty queen
   When adversity strikes, Leslie Anne Amada, Rosario’s representative to the prestigious Mutya ng Batangan 2011 pageant, knows just what to do—improvise, help herself, and still stand tall with poise.  
   While all the other candidates enjoy the privileges of the car and transportation services from the municipal or city government that they represent in the pageant, Leslie Anne rides the jeepney going to the pre-pageant activities in the cold of dawn just to reach the venue on time.
   Without the all-out support from the new mayor of Rosario, the town that Leslie Anne represents, she still fights on, and determined to fight it out until the coronation night.
   When the make-up artist she has already fully paid for abandoned her in the middle of a pre-pageant program, she took out her own make-up pouch bag and retouched her face.
   “Like my mother, I think of adversities as life’s challenges that were thrown on your way to make you stronger and tougher for the next obstacles to come,” Leslie Anne said,” If you can solve those problems and still remain beautiful through it all, carry on with poise, nothing in this world can beat you down.”
    Leslie Anne’s tough attitude when faced with problems must be from her mother, who has been the one responsible for making ends meet in their family.
   With four siblings, the youngest, a four year old girl, Leslie Anne says even she was amazed at how her mother handles the household issues, finances, and motherhood with ease. 
   “I think I got my ‘can do’ attitude from my mother who never faltered despite of all the sufferings she’s been through to keep our family afloat,” Leslie Anne said,” When my father couldn’t contribute to the family’s finances, my mother took the cudgels with a straight face.  And that face, for me is the most beautiful of all.”
   Despite her family’s financial difficulties, Leslie Anne is on her junior year of BS Psychology at the De La Salle Lipa, one of the top rated and most expensive educational institutions in Batangas.
   “With my full scholarship that lessens my tuition fee per semester by almost 92 percent, I’m able to study at the La Salle.  But I have to maintain my high grades and work at the office of the International School principal as clerk,” Leslie Anne said
   Leslie Anne has been a scholar and a working student in La Salle since 2009.  When her clerical job was over after the semester ends, she even worked in the sales department of international clothing company with a store in a mall in Lipa city to support her financial needs.

 Last year, her mother pushed her to join the Ms. Teen Namunga 2010, a pageant in their village.  With her  five foot and five inches height, even soft brown skin color, pretty face, and go-getter attitude, her mother believed she can win.
   “I never doubted my mother’s confidence,” Leslie Anne said.
   At the coronation night, Leslie Anne won the first runner up title.  This year, with her mother’s prodding, Leslie Anne joined and won the Mutya ng Rosario 2011 beauty pageant.
   That beauty contest catapulted her to the provincial level and made her Rosario town’s representative in the Mutya ng Batangan 2011, the most prestigious annual pageant in the province.
   One thing that Leslie Anne never forgets is maintaining her relationship with God.
   “I love attending the youth gatherings at our church. I love serving God, I love worshipping him, and praising him,” Leslie Anne said,” This is also one of the most important things my mother taught me.  When God is at your side, you’ll never lose any battle.”