86. INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S MONTH AND CATRIONA

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S MONTH AND CATRIONA

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

25 March 2019

The Provincial Government of Isabela honored exemplary Isabeleñas this morning during the flag rites as part of the province’ International Women’s Month Celebration for 2019 anchored on the theme “We Make Change Work for Women”. The Most Outstanding Woman Leader of Isabela Award was given to PSI Esem A. Galiza and was awarded by Philippine Educational Theater Association founder Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and Madam Mary Ann Arcega-Dy. Nominees of the Search for Most Outstanding Women Leaders of Isabela were: Hon. Marilou N. Sanchez, Hon. Leticia T. Sebastian, Ms. Maridee B. Belagan, Ms. Jocelyn D. Lenon, Ms. Noime C. Liangco, Ms. Lynie O. Panganiban, Ms. Drolly P. Claravall, Ms. Rosa A. Baua and a Filipino girl group composed of sisters Almira, Irene, Mylene, and Celina Cercado popularly known as 4th Impact.

March is International Women’s Month while March 8 is International Women’s Day (IWD). It is a focal point in the movement for women's rights. After the Socialist Party of America organized a Women's Day on February 28, 1909 in New York, the 1910 International Socialist Woman's Conference suggested a Women's Day be held annually. After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted in 1975 by the United Nations. Today, International Women's Day is a public holiday in some countries. In some places, it is a day of protest; in others, it is a day that celebrates womanhood.

In the Philippines, the following were issued to give a special mark in the calendar for women: Proclamation No. 224 (1988) declaring the first week of March each year as Women’s Week and March 8 as Women’s Rights and International Peace Day; Proclamation No. 227 (1988) providing for the observance of the Month of March as Women’s Role in History Month; and Republic Act 6949 (1990) declaring March 8 of every year as National Women’s Day.

One model woman of this generation is Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray who was crowned Miss Universe 2018 on December 17, 2018 at IMPACT Arena, Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi Province, northern suburb of Bangkok, Thailand. She is the fourth Filipina Miss Universe after Gloria Diaz (1969), Margarita Moran (1973) and Pia Wurtzbach (2015). Close to a hundred lovely ladies from 94 countries and territories participated in the 67th Miss Universe pageant.

Catriona was born on January 6, 1994 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia to a Scottish-born father, Ian Gray, from Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and a Filipina mother, Normita Ragas Magnayon, from Oas, Albay. Catriona is named after her paternal grandmother, Catherine Gray (née Ross), an immigrant to Western Australia from Scotland in 1952 and Elsa Magnayon (née Ragas), her maternal grandmother from Oas, Albay in Bicol region. Catriona was a student at Trinity Anglican School in Cairns where she was a house captain and a school chorister. She received a master's certificate in music theory from the online school of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition, she obtained a certificate in outdoor recreation and a black belt in Choi Kwang-Do martial arts. Furthermore, Catriona was lead singer of her school's jazz band. She also starred in local productions of Miss Saigon. After graduating from high school, she moved to Manila where she worked as a commercial model.

Catriona foray into the world of pageantry began in 1999 when she won Little Miss Philippines in Sydney at the age of five. On October 2, 2016, she was crowned Miss World Philippines 2016. After winning her national competition, Catriona competed at Miss World 2016 held in MGM National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Maryland, United States where she was placed in the Top 5. On March 18, 2018, she was crowned as Miss Universe Philippines 2018. In Philippine beauty pageant history, Catriona is the first Filipina to represent the country in both the Miss World and Miss Universe competitions and the second to represent the Philippines in two major international pageants (the other was Carlene Aguilar in 2005).

During the first question and answer round of the 2018 Miss U pageant, Catriona was asked by host Steve Harvey, "Canada recently joined Uruguay as the second nation in the world to make marijuana legal. What is your opinion on the legalization of marijuana?" She responded, “I’m for it being used for medical use, but not so for recreational use. Because I think if people were to argue: Then what about alcohol and cigarettes? Well, everything is good but in moderation.”

In the final question and answer portion, the top three contestants were asked the same question by Harvey: "What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your life and how will you apply it to your time as Miss Universe?" Catriona answered, “I work a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila and the life there is very... it's poor and it's very sad. And I’ve always taught myself to look for the beauty in it; to look in the beauty in the faces of the children, and to be grateful. And I would bring this aspect as a Miss Universe to see situations with a silver lining, and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson. And this I think if I could also teach people to be grateful, we could have an amazing world where negativity could not grow and foster, and children will have a smile on their faces.”

At the Miss Universe Philippines 2018 competition, United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Yong Kim asked the following: "After the devastating war—Marawi is now on its way to recovery, what will be your message to the young women of Marawi?" Catriona responded "...My answer and my message to the women is to be strong. As women, we're the head of the household and we have amazing influence, not only in our own families, as mothers, sisters and friends, but also in our community. If we could get the women to stay strong and be that image of strength for the children and the people around them, then once the rebuilding is complete and is underway, the morale of the community will stay strong and high..."

Mabuhay ang mga Isabeleña! Mabuhay ang mga Pilipina! Mabuhay ang mga kababaihan ng sanlibutan!