Miss World-Philippines 2012: Lapu-Lapu City's Vanessa Amman takes 2nd Princess crown

CEBU, Philippines - Thrown in among taller and more experienced contenders, ending the night as Miss World Philippines 2012 Second Princess is nothing to sneeze at for candidate number 2 Vanessa Claudine Amman, a Fil-German beauty who hails from Lapu-Lapu City.

A come-from-behind win, considering all the winners except her were figuring heavily on most followers’ top five predictions. This was also her first national level pageant, unlike the other four placers who had previously competed in other major Philippine beauty tilts. Her first try was Miss Cebu 2011, where she also placed second runner-up.

Amman’s high placement came as a surprise for pageant reviewers, conceding that it must have been her “smarts” and “contagious perkiness” that made the jurors sit up and notice.

The Cebuana also received four awards, Miss Friendship and Miss Laguna-World during a pre-pageant event, and Miss MyPhone and Miss Olay during the coronation Sunday evening held at the Tent City of the Manila Hotel.

Amman, a 23-year-old commercial model, took home P200,000 pesos for her third place finish, a four-year scholarship from AMA Computer College worth P450,000 pesos, P50,000 each for her corporate awards and other sponsor prizes. Awarding her the sash and crown were last year’s Second Princess Martha Chloe McCully and Aurora representative Sonny Angara, who served as one of the judges.

Her mother, former-ramp-model-turned-public-servant Lapu-Lapu City Councilor Queenie Malingin Amman, recounts to The FREEMAN that the first things her daughter blurted out right after the ceremonies were that “Mom, my feet hurt! I made it to the top 5!”

The pageant had three competitions: swimsuit, evening gown and Q&A. Contestants were whittled to 12 after the evening gown segment, where, in a suspenseful moment, Amman was the last to be called. After parading in Filipiñana wear, they were later narrowed down to a field of five.

For the Q&A, Amman in a plunging royal blue terno was first to be called by host Edu Manzano who read out her question “If you were given the chance to travel back in time, what lesson of today would you tell the Filipinos in the past and why?” As like all questions for the top five, the make-or-break query came from a pageant follower on Twitter, a first for a beauty competition in the country.

Amman took a few seconds before responding, “If I had the opportunity to tell people of the past of the future today, I would tell them how proud I am that they kept their virtues and their respect for their family, and that even in this time, that is something we treasure. And that is why I wouldn’t change a thing because I appreciate the heritage, where I come from and am very, very proud of the Filipinos of today.”

In her voice-over during the swimsuit segment, Amman described herself as a lover of the outdoors. According to her mother, she used to play soccer, but is now into wakeboarding and dancing. Her other passion involves the arts. In fact, the former Fine Arts student at the University of San Carlos held her first painting exhibit in Manila last month.

Her mother further described her as a woman of strong determination. “If she’s into something, she’ll do her best and work hard for it. She’s beautiful inside and outside. What you see is what you get,” said Councilor Amman. “She felt that Miss World-Philippines is a beauty with a cause, which was what inspired her to join. Actually, she was not well-prepared because of the short notice, but she did well and lost ten pounds because of the pageant’s hectic schedule.”

Harley Ruedas, a known Cebuano designer who also has a keen eye for promising beauty queens, was instrumental for convincing Amman to join Miss World Philippines. When she finally agreed, Ruedas immediately recommended her to top pageant trainer Rodgil Flores.

Ruedas advised her not to alter her natural curls, because it gave her a unique look from the 24 other candidates who mostly sported ironed or softly-waved tresses.

True enough, her uniqueness not only caught the attention of sponsors with her awards, she was also the choice of two celebrities in the audience. To avoid a lull while waiting for the final tabulation of results, Manzano went off-stage to ask crowd members who they were betting on. Actor Marvin Agustin, when asked, began by saying it was a hard choice, but that “I’m looking at candidate number two.” Actress and Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 1982 Maria Isabel Lopez, when it was her turn to be asked, also said that for her, it was a toss between number 2 and number 18 (Rufaida Babudin of the Molbog tribe from Palawan). By this time, top 12 semi-finalist Babudin was already out of the equation since she did not figure among the top five.

Not surprisingly, Las Piñas City native Queeneerich Rehman bagged the Miss World-Philippines 2012 crown. She also won seven other major awards namely, Best in Swimwear, Miss Photogenic, Miss Talent, Miss Philippine Prudential, Miss World Traveler, Miss Pantene, and Miss AMAzing Beauty and Brains. Partly Moroccan in lineage, the 23-year-old Psychology graduate from Assumption College was a Top 15 finalist in Bb. Pilipinas 2011, same year that Shamcey Supsup won her Bb. Pilipinas-Universe title.

Rounding out the elite top five are First Princess Mary Anne Misa from Parañaque City, Third Princess April Love Jordan (Best in Long Gown and Miss OraCare) of Tondo, Manila and Fourth Princess Brenna Cassandra Gamboa (Best in Fashion Runway and Miss Manny O’ Wines) of Laurel, Batangas.