18. MISS U STAMPS AND Q & A

MISS U STAMPS AND Q & A

Troy Alexander G. Miano, DPA

31 January 2017

I have experienced, three times since I was born, the hosting of the prestigious Miss Universe pageant in the Philippines. I was only three months old (92 days to be exact) on July 19, 1974 when the country hosted the 23^rd beauty pageant held  at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in Pasay City. The Philippines’ representative was Guadalupe Sanchez and Miss Spain, Amparo Muñoz, secured the crown.

After twenty years, the Miss Universe craze went back to the Philippines. I was in second year college at the University of Santo Tomas in España, Manila taking up Bachelor of Science in Commerce major in Business Administration (BSCBA) when my uncle who was a Manila Times photo correspondent would nag us to join him in covering the activities and functions of the 43^rd Miss Universe held on May 20, 1994 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. The Philippines’ representative was Charlene Mae Gonzales Bonnin (now wife to actor Aga Muhlach) who won the Best National Costume award and was one of the Top 6 Finalists. The Miss Universe crown went to Sushmita Sen of India.

After twenty one years, the country hosted for the third time this pageant previously owned by Donald Trump (now the 45^th president of the United States) and now owned by the talent agency, WME/IMG. The Philippines candidate to the 65^th Miss U was Maria Maxine Medina who was one of the Top 6 Finalists. The crown went to Miss France, Iris Mittenaere on January 30, 2017 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

It was only last year when the Philippines was able to bag its third Miss Universe crown. Having been invited in numerous beauty pageant in Isabela province, I was curious as a bee on the answers of our three Filipina Miss Universe. Gloria Aspillera Diaz (born March 10, 1951) was the first Filipina to win the Miss Universe crown on July 19, 1969 at the Miami Beach Auditorium, Florida, USA. Arriving at the pageant as an early favorite, Díaz did not disappoint her supporters and sailed throughout all the pageant's event that led up to the finals. Making it to the Top 5, she participated in the final question round and Diaz showed the universe how intelligent and beautiful Filipinas are. During the Q&A portion, she was asked, “In the next day or so, a man will land on the moon. If a man from the moon landed in your hometown, what would you do to entertain him?” Her answer was: “Oh, just the same things I do. I think if he has been on the moon for so long, I think when he comes over he wants to change, I guess.”

After five years, the Philippines was headline in all news when Maria Margarita Roxas Moran (now Mrs. Floirendo) or locally known as Margie Moran (born September 15, 1953 in Manila) won the second Miss Universe crown for the Philippines on July 21, 1973 at Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, Greece. Moran said that she entered the contest because of the incessant urgings of friends and family. The 19-year-old, 5 ft 6 in beauty also garnered the Miss Photogenic award. She is one of the only four Miss Universe winners to also win Miss Photogenic (the others being Margareta Arvidsson of Sweden in 1966, Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago in 1977, and Denise Quiñones of Puerto Rico in 2001). The pageant’s Q&A went like this: “If you had one million dollars what you do with it?” Moran’s answer was: “I would buy a big house where I can live with all the people I love”.

I was at the Human Resource and Management Office of the Provincial Government of Isabela in Ilagan City when I witnessed on television how host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez, as the winner. However, after Gutiérrez's crowning, Harvey returned to the stage and stated that he had misread the results and that Wurtzbach was really Miss Universe 2015. Paulina Vega (Miss Universe 2014) then removed the crown from Gutiérrez's head and placed it on the Philippines’ Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach's head.

Born on September 24, 1989 and formerly known in the Philippine entertainment and modeling industry as Pia Romero, the new Miss Universe was crowned on December 20, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. During the first question and answer round, Wurtzbach was asked by Harvey: “Earlier this year, there was a controversy in the Philippines about the United States reopening of military base in your country. Do you think the United States should have a military presence in your country?” Wurtzbach’s answer was: “I think that the United States and the Philippines have always had a good relationship with each other. We were colonized by the Americans and we have their culture and our traditions even up to this day and I think that we're very welcoming with the Americans. And I don't see any problem with that at all.”

During the second round of the Q&A, the top three contestants were asked the same question: “Why should you be the next Miss Universe?” Wurtzbach answered: “To be a Miss Universe is both an honor and responsibility. If I were to be Miss Universe, I will use my voice to influence the youth and I would raise awareness to certain causes like HIV awareness that is timely and relevant to my country which is the Philippines. I want to show the world, the universe rather, that I am confidently beautiful with a heart. Thank you.”

Aside from being a numismatist and notaphilist, I am also a philatelist since Grade 5.  Collecting first day of issue Philippine stamps, I was able to secure a 100 peso souvenir sheet containing three stamp designs commemorating the Philippines’ hosting of the prestigious Miss U pageant. The ‘stamp-on-stamp’ design of the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost) highlighted the three Filipina maidens who won the much coveted crown. The first stamp design is of Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz, which was released in 1994, in commemoration of the last Miss Universe pageant held in the Philippines. Second is Miss Universe 1973 Margarita Moran, which was also released in 1994. The last design is of Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo-Wurtzbach, which was released last year, in celebration of her victory.

All three beauty queens were part of the commemorative Philpost Living Legends roster, along with the first Miss World from the Philippines Meagan Lynne Young and Filipino world boxing champion Senator Manny Pacquiao. Living Legends are living personalities aside from the president and elected officials who have been featured on stamps because of the pride and honor they have brought for the country.

The Philippines ranks No.4 together with Sweden in the most number of Miss Universe title holders after the United States (8), Venezuela (7) and Puerto Rico (5). I stared at the photos of the three Filipina Miss U then I turned my attention to my wife and sighed. Indeed, the Filipina is confidently beautiful with a heart.