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.”
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.”
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Proud to be from Alitagtag
“My hometown, Alitagtag may be considered a fourth class municipality, you may even call it a small town, but it is known as the karosa (festival floats) capital of the Philippines. Our historical church and Salubong Festival has always been a tourist attraction,” Rachael Dianne Calalo, Alitagtag town’s bet for the Mutya ng Batangan said of her town.
Just passed the recent nursing board exam, Rachael Dianne had to temporarily stop her training at the Bauan Doctor’s Hospital to concentrate on the pageant that she wanted to join for so long.
“I want to experience this pageant and prove to myself and to all the people I love that I can represent my hometown and make them proud,” Rachael Dianne said.
At 21, and 5”7 ½” tall, she is considered one of the tallest candidates in the pageant.
Thankful for her family’s support, she’s also grateful for the municipal government’s support and the mayor who advises her on how to deal with many people on and off the pageant.
But dealing with different types of people is already effortless with Rachael Dianne as she has been a people person since her childhood days.
And this “people person” has always been ready to help her family and friends, share her talents, and advise them. With 5002 friends in facebook and 230 pending requests she couldn’t accommodate anymore since her account was full.
Not new to pageants, Rachael Dianne has already joined the Mr. and Ms. Nursing at the Lyceum of the Philippines University in December 2008.
In May 2008 she got the Darling of the Crowd and Best in Long Gown awars at the search for King and Queen of their village in Alitagtag.
“I’ve been reading Bo Sanchez and I like what he said about our power to create love even in the smallest things we can do as a person for other people,” Rachael Dianne said.
A voracious reader, Rachael Dianne has learned the value of reading at a very young age when her uncle from Australia sent her three to five books as birthday gifts.
Though they were mostly children’s books when she was young, she was able to collect more as she grew, and appreciate the wisdom from every pages she read. The hardbound books, she said she still keeps up to now.
“Now, I read the Harry Potter series, Twilight, Tuesdays with Morrie, and Bo Sanchez’s books,” Rachael Dianne said,” I learn so much from them.”
One book that made a very positive impact on her life was Tuesdays with Morrie.
“That’s where I realized the value of life, and why we should treasure every moment of our lives,” Rachael Dianne added.
Among the best valued people in her life, she said, was her family and her aunt who supported her nursing studies.
Though her first choice was to study tourism Rachael Dianne knew that her aunt and her parents were right when they asked her to take the nursing course.
“My aunt never said this in my face, by my mother already told me that I am my auntie’s favorite niece. But that didn’t get to my head. Instead, I that became my inspiration, something that drove me to study harder and prove to the world that my aunt was right to help me,” she said
As a registered nurse, Rachael Dianne also dreams of being a doctor and plans to save money to study medicine.
“If I could have a chance to do that and at the help my family’s finances, why not?” she added.
Rachael Dianne recalls her chances during her student days to work part time as a model and was even invited for pictorials but she declined because her first priority at that time was her college diploma. She has also joined the Hair Asia twice, and made sure it didn’t distract her studies.
“Before I make important decisions, I ask my parents and aunt’s opinion first. The decision of those important people in my life is very crucial to everything that I do. So far, their decisions have guided me and have proven to be so right. I’m so grateful for their support,” she said.
Joining the Mutya ng Batangan, Rachael Dianne is determined to do her best.
“I have a lot of dreams and I always keep my options open for all possibilities I can create to achieve my dream. And whatever I decide to do, I stand firm and do everything I can to get it. I know God is always beside me,” she added,”This is the pageant that makes me proud to be here and put my foot forward for my town and the people I love.”
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San Jose’s future HOT doc
San Jose, the Philippine’s egg capital will soon have another doctor to join its ranks of good physicians. Carmina Marcaida, thetown’s representative to the Mutya ng Batangan 2011 is not just a registered nurse, but also a future doctor who dreams of becoming a paediatrician and help the children in her town.
“Joining the Mutya ng Batangan, I was able to promote our town, the egg capital of the Philippines. I also realized that here, I can be HOT—Help other people, Open to innovations, and Transparent for us to work effectively,” Carmina added.
Being this HOT, for Carmina also means, taking her dictum to the higher level, even up to the time when she becomes a doctor who will help other people, be open to innovations, and transparent to work effectively.
Though she now works at the Human Resources Office of her alma mater, the Batangas State Universtiy, where she sought temporary employment while waiting for the result of the nursing board exam, she she plans to pursue her medical career soon.
“My dream is really to become a doctor. Since I was a child, I’ve admire doctors so much because I know it takes a lot of guts to be a doctor. And doctors are really intelligent, brave, and courageous. They also have a very determined heart to save lives and help the people in need of their expertise,” Carmina said,” That’s also the same traits that nurses have.”
A Borbonian by heart, Carmina didn’t find working at BSU a difficult task as she knows the university since college, and the people she’s been working with are also her friends since her student days. Even BSU president Dr. Nora Magnaye, she says is a good friend and mentor.
In 2005 Carmina represented BSU in the search for Ms. Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) Region IV A and B Ms. PASUC and got the 1st Runner-Up title.
But she also plans to work as a nurse after her contract in BSU is finished.
“I really love the medical profession. I want to study medicine in the future if I’d be given a chance to. My plan is to save money for that because I know that that is my future,” Carmina said.
Carmina wants to be a paediatrician and be with children.
“I love children. And I have this unwavering patience and fondness for them. Just simply seeing them smile makes me happy too. I get this feeling of lightness when I’m with children,” she added.
According to Carmina, helping patients lessen their pain and suffering gives her a kind of fulfilment that cannot be comparable to any amount of money.
When she was training in the hospital, Carmina never lied about to the patients on the pains of injections
“Unlike the old school, we tell the patients right away what’s gonna happen and if it will hurt. We don’t give them false hopes and we’d also get them ready for the procedure,” Carmina added, “This honesty in our job helps not only us, but the patients as well. And this also helps the children prepare themselves and be brave. ”
With her happy childhood spent in San Jose with her younger brother and cousins in her grandparents’ home, being a child was a wonderful time for Carmina, despite her parents absence.
“My parents really worked hard for our future, and we know that they love us so much. Young as we are then, we already understood that their sacrifices were meant to give us a better future,” she said.
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An OFW daughter’s pure heart
Towering over all the other candidates, 5-foot and 10 inches tall, Christine Angel Alvaira, San Nicolas town’s representative at the prestigious Mutya ng Batangan 2011 has the humility and pure heart of a small child.
The only daughter of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) couple, Christine Angel was raised by her uncle’s family who treated her as if she were their own.
“I admit that it is really difficult and a bit lonely to be an only child and growing up without my parents. Even with their absence in my growing up years, my love for my parents never wavered because I knew that behind their sacrifice working abroad is their dream of raising me well and giving me a better future,” Christine Angel said.
Despite of the absence, Christine Angel did good in school and is now in her senior year in AB Fashion Design and Merchandising at the De La Salle College of St. Benilde.
“I believe that my college diploma is the best gift I can give to my parents. Even as a child, half the world away from them, I could feel their love for me. I know it’s not easy to leave your own little girl and work in another country. But they did that because they want to make sure I’ll have a brighter future,” Christine Angel said,”I’m so thankful and feel so lucky to have them as my parents.”
Aside from her busy schedule as a senior student, Christine Angel also finds time to squeeze in her part-time job as a ramp model.
With her height and natural sway, the runway is her territory.
”My dream is to work and be known as one of the top fashion designers or supermodels abroad specially in Europe. As a little girl, I’d always wanted to be a supermodel,” she said
For Christine Angel, being a model is not an easy job.
“In this profession, you have to be disciplined enough and focus on balancing. Models are made, not born. We need to train, practice, and develop ourselves before we walk on the ramp,” she added.
With plans of putting up her own clothing line after she graduates, Christine Angel also wants to join the Philippine Fashion Week as a designer or a model and get busy in the fashion industry.
She still gets excited every weekend and holidays as those are the times that she could go home to San Nicolas, and for a moment, enjoy the time away from school and her part time job.
For her, San Nicolas is a piece of paradise that God allowed her to enjoy.
Growing up in San Nicolas with her cousins who treated her as their own biological sister, she enjoyed playtime at the Taal lakeshore with the magnificent view of the world famous Taal Volcano.
“After our games, we’d just sit on the sands of the lakeshore and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Taal Volcano. We’d stay there and wait for the sunset,” she said,”That was a very wonderful childhood to grow up with lots of love and surrounded by the beauty of nature.”
The gateway to Taal Volcano from the Western part of Batangas, San Nicolas is also famous for its Maliputo fish that is found only in Taal Lake, and the ruins of the old Taal Church.
At 19, Christine Angel admitted that she’s never had a boyfriend and wants to keep herself pure until her wedding night.
“We all know that there is no perfect man. But my ideal man is someone who would love and respect not just me but also my family, and take care of me forever, someone who would deserve me as I walk the aisle in a wedding gown that mirrors my pure heart,” Christine Angel said.
"Make yourself at home in exceptional Calaca!" Was how Beverly Jan Magpile, former Binibining Calaca 2009 and the town’s representative to the province’s most prestigious search for Mutya ng Batangan 2011, describes her hometown.
“Poetry for me is not just a hobby,” Beverly said,” I started writing poems when I was in high school to express what I think and feel. When I’m in the mood, the words just flow naturally. Though none of my works have been published yet, I feel that kind of satisfaction when my friends appreciate what I write.”
When in the mood, aside from poetry, the artist in her also draws and reads books, real printed hardbound books.
Despite the internet where she can get every reference she wants, Beverly still prefers the book.
“I prefer books, the printed, hardbound books that I can read before I go to sleep. Staring too long at the computer monitor is unhealthy for the eyes. With books, I love going through my favourite parts again and again. I still find it fascinating,” Beverly added.
A happy girl through and through, Beverly, also known to her friends as “Bev” says her town, Calaca, and her family gave her a happy childhood.
"Calaca has natural, cultural and historical attractions such as its abundant beaches, our very own calacatchara festival, and the nearly 200 year-old Calaca church that we cherish,”Beverly added,” and of course, the Calaquenos, the people we love have that natural charm and hospitable mindset that draw local and foreign tourists here.”
Her home in Calaca, according to Beverly, is incomparable to any town, especially with its homegrown product, the atchara, the pickled papaya that is considered the perfect appetizer to any viand.
“While lechon is the king of every fiesta table, only Calaca’s atchara mixed with the lechon sauce can complete the dining experience and make every bite a perfect taste of what’s really delicious,”Beverly said. “And its only here in Calaca.”
According to Beverly, despite the progress in her town, its natural resources was never taken for granted.
“We know that our environment is our responsibility. And we draw our strength from the environment that we protect because it’s not just a source of living today, but also the future of the next generation,”Beverly quipped.
For an environmentalist who also represents her town, Beverly’s flair for poetry also draws strength from the environment that gave her a happy life, and more poems to come to complete the perfect picture.
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Lemery’s beauty queen has more than good looks
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She might haveslipped, but she
stood up with poise and her best smile
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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 2nd 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 4th runner up crown in the search for Binibining PUP 2011.
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Challenged by the bikini, Reinelle knows
how to flaunt her best figure.
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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.
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.
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Cuenca’s bet is a young achiever
While most women her age are still in college, at 19, Jazzy Rose Sañes , Cuenca town’s bet for the 2011 Mutya ng Batangan, already knows how to earn her own money—as an executive assistant in a big company in Makati City.
“I took Tourism for a year, and then Hotel and Restaurant Management at the De la Salle Lipa for three years before I transferred to the Magsaysay Institute of Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Last year, I graduated from my culinary arts course,” Jazzy Rose said.
But Jazzy Rose wasn’t active only on her career and former student life. Out of the one million contestants of the hit reality series Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition Batch 1, she was chosen as one of the top 15 from Manila.
“I stayed in the PBB House for one day, did tasks given by “Big Brother,” she said.
Called as the “chocolate girl when she trained at the Hotel Sofitel’s chocolate room, Jazzy Rose’s sweet outlook was made even sweeter.
To monitor her progress, she’s keeping a diary that tells her of her own self improvement.
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For Rhacia Wena Bagos, Tingloy town’s bet for the Mutya ng Batangan 2011, everything is now falling into place. Not only is she maintaining her grades at the Batangas State University where she is currently on the fourth year majoring in Chemical Engineering, but she’s already proven that she could do better in her chosen field.
“My first choice was really not chemical engineering, but Tourism, because I really want to travel,”Rhacia Wena said.
Three years ago, when she was about to be interviewed at the University of Sto. Tomas where she applied for a tourism course, Rhacia Wena and her parents decided no to go.
“The tourism course would definitely enable me to travel if I become a flight attendant. And travelling the world is my dream. But as a normal student, I worry about my future,” Rhacia Wena said.
And so, she decided to pursue Chemical Engineering at the BSU.
“At the end of the day, I realized that what hurts in struggling to reach for the bright side is when you realize that you yourself are the dark side,” Rhacia Wena said,” My parents made me realize that I can always do better, and I can walk on the right side of life.”
With the confusion gone, she was able to face the difficult challenges of her chosen course and promised herself to give it her best shot to fulfil her parents’ dreams for her.
“We’re a middle income family who believes that education is one legacy that our parents can give us. It is the armour we can use in facing life’s challenges, and nobody can take it away from us,” she added.
A charmer in her department, Rhacia Wena even won the first runner up title in the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Fine Arts Society in September 2010.
The dream of being a flight attendant is now gone. It was been replaced by her plan of being a successful chemical engineer, a job that will take her to the world’s top tourism spots on her vacations.
With tourism spots, Rhacia Wena says nothing can beat the charm of her island hometown of Tingloy. Though her family maintains a house in Batangas city, they still call Tingloy their home paradise.
“Coming home, we still have to get that boat ride and be amazed at the island strategically located in the center of the famous Verde Island Passage,” Rhacia Wena said, ”That’s just the ride home. Home is paradise.”
Now with electricity, hospital, and potable water supply in the island, progress there has made life better for the residents.
Asked how she would promote Tingloy as a tourism destination, Rhacia Wena said she’d rather give the question to the government.
"I’d like to ask the government that question too. How will the government promote and package Tingloy as a tourism destination without a circumferential road in the island that would enable local, foreign tourists, and even residents to go around and explore Tingloy?” Rhacia Wena said.
“Tingloy island is already there, the best tourism potential to offer in our province. All the government has to do is to build the infrastructures needed and the tourism arrivals will automatically come,” she added.
For an island girl who knows her way in and out of Tingloy, Rhacia Wena has seen how progress can change the lives of the island’s residents, and its potentials as a tourism destination.
“Joining this Mutya ng Batangan 2011 would also help me show my capability and potential and especially what our town, Tingloy, can offer as a tourism destination,” she said,” And I believe I’m on the right path.”
