Get to know the Miss Cebu 2016 candidates

CEBU, Philippines – It’s never easy to be candidate No.1 in a beauty tilt. You’re first to step out on stage, and the minute the last girl exits, you’re probably the first one out of the audience’s minds. Caira, a bronze-skinned lass from Labangon, won’t just sit idly and let that happen though. Hers is a face you aren’t likely to forget, with those doe eyes and full puckers. This Psychology major from Cebu Doctor’s University (CDU) describes herself as an extrovert and outdoorsy, saying she loves meeting people and getting to know their stories. If afforded the platform, she hopes to be a voice for families reared by single parents.

Asked on her take about the Filipino’s intense fascination for showbiz love teams as events from recent months have reinforced, Caira attributes this to her countrymen’s “loving nature, and passion towards our families and neighbors.”

She names pop superstar Katy Perry as a woman worthy of admiration. “I’ve seen her documentary titled ‘Part of Me,’ where I learned about her struggles as a person and as a pop star… how many record labels rejected her. I love her fighting spirit, and she serves as an inspiration to me. In life, you just fight for what you want, but without stepping on other people’s toes, just like Katy Perry did,” says Caira.

2. Tracy Maureen Perez, 22

Mau, a fresh-faced Argao native, says she’s been through a lot: an only child raised by a single mom, whom she lost during her sophomore year in college. “Yet I’m still here,” she proudly declares. Aunts and uncles have helped her get by since, but after completing an Industrial Engineering degree, she’s deadset on fending for herself and giving back to those who’ve helped her. Currently employed as a contact center agent for Eperformax, Mau is still waiting to take her certification exam so she can finally pursue work related to her degree.

She admires former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s grit and tenacity, pointing out that “it’s not easy to run the government and handle criticism” and that “people do make mistakes.”

Mau believes poverty can be alleviated by “giving livelihood to adults and educating young children to become ready for their futures.”

3. Shaila Mae Rebortera, 19

A future dentist, Shaila wants to encourage the youth to take care of their teeth. A lovely, bright smile can get one far, after all. Now if this was the beauty drilling into our grills and cleaning out those cavities, who would possibly dread a visit to the dentist?

But aside from gorgeous grins, this third year Dentistry student from CDU would also love to promote Cebu’s tourism and progress. If a non-Cebuano would ask her to explain her hometown’s newly launched tagline ‘Cebu, Where the Heart Sings,’ Shaila says she would instead encourage that visitor “to stay for a couple of weeks or experience Sinulog, or let him or her meet my friends and family. Afterwards, that is when I will return the question ‘Tell me, how did your heart sing?’ What better way to understand something, than to experience it.”

Shaila, a Miss Mandaue 2015 finalist and Miss CESAFI 2014 winner, admits that being a singer is one of her frustrations and lifelong dreams.

This mestiza charmer sang praises for a high school teacher/theater director, crediting her as one of the people who helped shaped her personality. “She is a very intelligent and independent woman. She is not married, that’s why she treated us, her students, like her own children,” she shares. “A lot of intelligent Filipinos prefer to go abroad or strive for a high label in society. But she chose to become a teacher here in the Philippines, which I value so much because a teacher is the one who molds the youth in what they will become in the future.”

4. Dara Nikko Calagos, 20

Here’s another embodiment of the hardworking, independent millennial woman. Dara, a Hospitality Management graduate from the University of San Jose-Recoletos, says she has been helping support her large brood at a young age, a fact she’s very proud of. “We are 10 in the family, and my parents do not have work, so my aunt has also been supporting us for years now,” she says. Things are looking up for Dara on the career front, as she was just promoted to a performance analyst position at Eperformax. If given the voice to influence, the dusky Cebuana would like to “improve youth education because I believe this will make the world better.”

5. Felina Joyce Lim, 24

No stranger to beauty contests, Felina is taking one last dive in local pageantry before she turns 25. “It’s not about winning anymore. It’s the experience,” the chinky-eyed entrepreneur quips. Her pageant feats include Miss Southern Leyte 2013 first runner-up, and Miss Chinese Cosmos Southeast Asia 2013 first runner-up. Last year, Felina was all set to compete again internationally for Miss Supranational 2014 in Udaipur, India, but an Ebola scare resulted to the contest getting scrapped.

The Nursing graduate from St. Louis University in Baguio City didn’t sulk at the disappointment for long, and instead re-focused her energy as operations manager of the family business: the Body and Sole Spa chain (currently with 58 branches nationwide) founded by her father, Johnie Lim. Just last June, she was gifted by her dad her own Body and Sole Spa branch located in Labangon. Her exposure to the wellness industry has convinced Felina to take up wellness eco-tourism as her cause, noting that we should also “make use of our natural resources in promoting tourism.”

Cebuana beauty queen and actress Pilar Pilapil is one woman she’d like to emulate. “With all her experiences, including in her love life, she is now serving her church. That’s how I want to be when I grow older,” says Felina.

6. Francheska Marie Mamac, 21

Cheska says she took up Medical Technolgy at Velez College, because she was still young then and hadn’t really decided what course best suited her interests. Currently a marketing manager for design and development company Mamac-Mendoza Associates, the Kim Chiu deadringer has finally found her niche in a field that matches her inclinations.

She calls herself “funny, adventurous and talkative,” and at the same time reveals it was her insecurities that led her to join Miss Cebu. “I look up to Venus Raj because of her confidence. And like her, I joined Miss Cebu to develop myself and gain confidence. If she can do it, then why can’t I?”

If crowned Miss Cebu, Cheska wants to use her title to “be the voice of street dwellers in giving them shelter and livelihood.”

7. Anna Marie Saldon, 21

Anna, a third year Psychology student at Southwestern University, paid a huge compliment to the reigning Miss Cebu, Wynonah Van Buot, citing her as the foremost female she admires for being “brilliant and gorgeous.”

“How can someone love food so much and still look so thin? She’s my girl-crush,” adds Anna, a Binibining Asturias 2014 titleholder who describes herself as assertive, caring and very curious about things

8. Daenielle Anne Llenos, 18

Dee is a third year Mass Communications student at St. Theresa’s College who wants to advocate for Cebuanos to take care of the environment since “Cebu is well-known for its great tourist spots.”

An aspiring journalist, Dee loved ABS-CBN anchor Karen Davila’s controversial episode with senatorial aspirant and actress Alma Moreno because “it showed how she was really fearless with her questions. She was doing her part as a watchdog and as a communicator.”

One other thing she loves to the heavens is food! “I love to eat. I’m very fond of food. Even biting into something simple as chicharon, I savor it,” she reveals.

9. Gabriele Raine Baljak, 18

This multi-talented Fil-Croatian boasts an ancestry of movers, achievers and beauty queens. Raine’s mom Merce Abellana was crowned Miss Cebu Tourism 1986, while her aunt Mae Beverly Lao-Abellana was a Binibining Pilipinas runner-up. Her forefathers also made a mark in history, according to Raine. “My forefather Gregorio Abellana fought in the Spanish war, and my great-grandfather Jovito Abellana fought in the Japanese war. We also have another family member named Hilario Abellana who was a Cebu governor. Just like my forefathers who have created really big shoes to fill, I’m standing somewhere where my mom was back in 1986. I’m happy to be here, and I want to make change just like all of them have. I want to make a difference in my own little way.”

Raine is a host on My TV, a jock for Monster Radio, a fashion model and a musician (she likens her sound to Joss Stone or Amy Winehouse meets Tracy Chapman).

Of her chosen advocacy, Raine expressed: “How many in this room are aware to the cyber sex or child trafficking happening to children in Mactan? Or see children playing and sleeping on the side of our roads, where pedophiles from outside are targeting children 15 and under? The kids are used and abused, and what do we have to give them? In barangays, we see basketball courts, but who plays on these courts? It’s the adults. Do we have safe environments for the kids to play on, such as playgrounds and parks? Where they can skip-rope, cycle, run free and laugh outside? My advocacy is to promote wellness and recreation for children, to give them a safe environment, Because the children are the future, that’s why we need to nurture them the most.”

10. Bea Clarisse Raboy, 22

Bea, a resident of Basak, San Nicolas, creatively likened herself to an empty mug because she is “thirsty for experiences and ready and open to be filled.”

Sharing she grew up “obeying what is asked of me,” the former Cebu City scholar and licensed Special Education teacher now wants to widen her horizon and broaden her perspective. “Once I graduated from college, I feel I am freer to do what I want. I want to meet new people, learn a lot of things and improve my social skills,” she says.

This five-foot-seven finalist advocates for education for all, regardless of gender, race and social background.

11. Vida Doriza Reya, 24

Social entrepreneurship is an area Vida is quite passionate about, partly due to her knowledge as a Business Administration graduate from the University of San Carlos, and now as a 7-Eleven store manager. “As a young entrepreneur, I want to succeed financially, but I don’t want to be alone in this journey,” she says.

Her internship was one she wouldn’t forget, as she worked closely with a female entrepreneur who taught her lessons beyond business strategies. “I look up to the Queen of Outdoor Advertising, Me Ann Solomon. I worked with her when I was in college as one of her interns. She went through cancer, and I appreciate how she celebrates life despite everything she went through. Like her, I also want to celebrate life,” Vida shares.

Another outdoorsy type, Vida put it best when she said, “If there’s dagat, I dive; if there’s bukid, I climb.”

A woman she looks up to is a commercial woman pilot from Singapore who is also a model. “She is the embodiment of who I want to be one day.

12. Merl Gayo, 18

Look closely and you’ll recognize a resemblance to Maine Mendoza aka Yaya Dub! “A lot of people have told me that already,” says Merl with a smile.

And just like her sister-from-another-mother, this fair-skinned gal is also an adventurous go-getter! For one, she’s taking up an Aviation Electronics Technology course at the Indiana Aerospace University in hopes of being a pilot one day. Talk about a beauty in a man’s world!

Merl hopes to follow in the heels of a commercial woman pilot from Singapore who also moonlights as a model. “She is the embodiment of who I want to be one day,” says Merl.

A scuba diving enthusiast, Merl has been actively helping out in underwater and shoreline clean-up drives