A Beautiful Harvest

It was one of the best batches ever, with the 30 girls giving the judges (among them were Robin Padilla, Alfred Vargas, and former Binibini beauties Ruffa Gutierrez, Charlene Gonzalez and Precious Lara Quigaman) a tough time picking the winners.

And they are, drum roll please:

• Anna Theresa Licaros, 2007 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, 22 (5’9", 116 lbs., 34-25-34), from Cuenca, Batangas, a certified beauty-and-brains who finished Broadcast Communication summa cum laude at UP where she’s a Dean’s Lister Law sophomore, a first-time beauty contestant.

• Nadia Lee Cien Shami, 2007 Bb. Pilipinas-International, 19 (5’9.5", 124 lbs., 35-25-36), from North Cotabato, an Information Technology freshman at the Central Colleges of the Philippines (who was a semi-finalist in the 2004 Miss Teen Philippines, Miss Philippines-Air in the 2005 Miss Earth-Philippines contest, 2004 Mutya ng Cotabato and host of the DzMM science-and-technology Sunday program Bago ‘Yan Ah!).

• Margaret Nales Wilson, 2007 Bb. Pilipinas-World, 17 (5’9.5", 122 lbs., 34-24-35), half-British and half-Filipino, from Bacolod, a high school senior at Angelicum College and a GMA 7 talent since she was 13 (who was on Kakaba-Kaba and now on Asian Treasures).

To find out just how brainy the girls are, Conversations gathered them in Oasis at the Gateway Mall (Araneta Center, Quezon City) and put them one more time to a grueling Q&A.

And the winner for Miss Talent is...take your pick!

Winning a beauty title can be radically life-changing. How do you think the Binibini title will change your life?

Theresa: It will subject me to public scrutiny so I will have to be more conscious of how I look, how I act and what I say because I’m no longer just Anna Theresa Licaros but a representative not only of the Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) but the country.

Nadia: I should be more feminine, more prim and proper. But my attitude will not change because my mom and my lola told me to always aim high but to keep my feet firmly on the ground.

Margaret: I will be busier, since I’m also in showbiz and doing MTV where I’m one of the new veejays. Yeah, I will have to be more conscious of my actions. Being the youngest — the Little Ruffa Gutierrez as they call me — I have to grow up faster.

(From Gloria Diaz, the first Filipina Miss Universe, 1969, asking her daughter Isabel how she would answer it in case she joined a beauty contest) What would you choose, a fat man with lots of money or a thin, handsome man with no money?

Theresa: I would choose the fat man because I like chubby people. They are easier to live with. I, too, like to eat a lot. I plan to learn how to cook. Chubby people are huggable and more jolly.

Nadia: I’m practical. I’d go for the fat man with lots of money because he can have a liposuction anytime he wants to — as long as he’s got brains and he’s nice.

Margaret: We’re living in a world that’s too hard and too harsh, and we all need some kind of security. Yes, I would choose the fat man with lots of money, a good provider. But money isn’t really a big factor. Looks-wise, I’d choose a guy shorter than me. I don’t go for handsome men because they can be vain and can go astray. Ako pa naman, I stick to one.

The marriages of most (international) beauty queens (Misses Universe Gloria Diaz and Margie Moran; and Misses International Gemma Cruz, Aurora Pijuan and Melanie Marquez) end up on the rocks. Why do you think?

Theresa: I have a boyfriend, who’s with Globe, and we’ve been together for almost four years. Do men fall in love with the image and not the real person? Maybe. I don’t know. But I’m confident that if we end up together, he fell in love not with the beauty queen but with the real person. A lot of people told me that after a girl wins a beauty title, the first to go is her boyfriend. I was asked during the pageant which I would choose, the crown or my love life? The crown, I said. Like I said, my boyfriend is there to wait for me; he’s very supportive. I can say that we will not break up even after the Binibini. Take note, I said that at 2:20 p.m., Tuesday, March 6, 2007, at the Oasis of Gateway Mall, Cubao, Quezon City.

Nadia: Maybe nati-tiempo lang. I’ll make sure that the guy I will marry will not leave me and will not love me for my crown but for what I am. I also have a boyfriend and he was the one who encouraged me to join the contest. He was the first to cry when I won. He’s a surgeon and he was the one who removed a cancerous mole at my back last January.

Margaret: You can’t have everything in life. It’s really hard to juggle career and your love life, more so if you are a beauty queen. Your schedule can go haywire! Some guys can get insecure especially if their girlfriends or wives are more successful than they are or are earning more. It’s the ego thing, you know. Boyfriend? No, I don’t have any. I broke up with him (a band member) eight months ago but we’ve remained friends.

Who’s your role model and why?

Theresa: Definitely my mother, Maria Victoria (Mavic), because she’s such a strong woman. She’s a licensed civil engineer but she didn’t practise. What she did was raise all four of us; I have three brothers. My dad was around but he’s busy making a living. She’s a hands-on mom. She’s really my idol because everything that I know, everything that I am, came from her. She gives very good advice. A friend when you need one and a mother when she has to be a mother. She comes from a broken family but she’s the epitome of a woman who makes her family whole and happy, and who has resolved that she won’t have the same fate as her parents had.

Nadia: I have two — my mother, Dr. Genevieve dela Cruz; and my grandmother, Remedios Romero. My dad is Arab, from Jordan; I am one-fourth Russian, one-fourth Arab, one-fourth Spanish and one-fourth Filipino. He and my mom separated when I was two and a half years old and I last saw him when I was seven. I admire my mom and my grandma because they raised me well despite the absence of a father.

Margaret: My ate, my half-sister Jocelyn. She grew up without a parent in the Philippines because my mom was busy taking care of me and my other sister. We grew up in Saudi Arabia. My dad is Scottish, an expat based in Saudi Arabia. I didn’t know that Jocelyn was my ate until I was 10. During the first two years when we moved here, Ate Jocelyn was the one taking care of me. She’s a completely strong and independent woman, growing up in the care of different aunts, that’s why she’s adaptable. I’m happy for her now that she has her own career.

If you were to change something in yourself, what would it be?

Theresa: I’d like to be more patient. I’m impatient and maybe that’s because I’m a Leo (Aug. 10). My mom keeps reminding me, "Pray for patience." I’m more patient with people I don’t know. But when it comes to my mom and my brothers, ewan ko but I’m impatient.

Nadia: Physically, maybe my feet. They’re too big and I need to have them "reconstructed." My shoe size is 9.5" to 11". I’m an Aquarian (Jan. 23). I’m an optimist. My fault is that I’m a martyr, mahilig magpa-api.

Margaret: I think of others before I think of myself. Once you need me, I’m there for you. I worry too much about other people than about myself. So I think I need to learn how to love myself more.

What is your best asset and why?

Theresa: My being a fast learner and my being open to learn more. When I don’t know something, I’m quick to admit it. I ask questions. I’m open to change, to discovering new things.

Nadia: I’m also a fast and eager learner. I’m patient and flexible. I easily get along with other people; I can adjust to all kinds of people.

Margaret: I’m also a fast learner. Since I grew up in different countries, I’m very adaptable. I studied in an international school, so I can deal with people from any part of the world. I’m independent and self-reliant. I have a strong personality. But I can be a loner; I like to work by myself...I’m more productive that way.

(Also from Gloria Diaz who asked the question when she sat as judge at the Bb. Pilipinas pageant a few years ago) What would you rather be, smart but not too beautiful or beautiful but not too smart?

Theresa: Beautiful but not too smart because I think intelligence is something that you can work on. The mind is limitless. If you commit yourself to something, you can learn anything that you want. But beauty, it’s God-given and when you tamper with what God has given you, you can’t be sure how it’s going to turn out.

Nadia: Same. Sabi nga nila, I already have this God-given pretty face, so I just have to work on intelligence. Read a lot and learn from other people.

Margaret: Beautiful but not too smart. Every day, we learn new things, even when you’re old. Knowledge is your choice. Walang taong bobo; nasa tiyaga lang ‘yon. You can be smart if you want to.

A former Miss Universe, Irene Saez Conde of Venezuela, became a mayor of a Venezuelan town and planned to run for President in her country. Should beauty queens, like actors, go into politics?

Theresa: I’m not shy to tell people that I have political plans. I’m open to it. I plan to specialize in civil and criminal law. What’s important is not whether you are an actor or a beauty queen but your desire to serve the people. You must have the commitment. And I think I have that. Coming from UP, the desire and commitment are instilled in you. You know, pinag-aral ka ng mga taxpayers, so you have to give it back to them.

Nadia: Before joining the Binibini, I was invited to run for board member in North Cotabato but I begged off. I wanted to pursue my studies and my dream to be a Binibini. I thought that I could still be a public servant even if I wouldn’t join politics.

Margaret: Ayokong magsalita ng tapos. No, I wouldn’t want to be a politician. You have to really know what you’re getting into, you must have the necessary background and knowledge. I can serve the people in some other way.

If you were Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, what three pressing problems would you tackle first?

Theresa: One, education. Our educational system needs an overhaul. To produce competitive citizens, we must improve our public-education system. Two, environment. As a country with rich natural resources, we must tap this God-given gift and develop it and make sure that the returns go to our government and not to foreign investors. Three, health. There are lots of senseless deaths and waste of human resources because our people are not properly nourished and not given proper health care.

Nadia: Education, especially in far-flung places. Sana, reading centers would be put up, especially in my province. Environment, because global warming is becoming a serious problem. Employment, because many of our people are unemployed.

Margaret: Same problems — education, environment and unemployment. And also, we should promote Philippine products; we’ve become too foreign-product-oriented. We should enhance our beautiful spots so we can attract more tourists.

What is the essence of being a Binibini?

Theresa: To exemplify the Filipino values, like being mahinhin and malambing. Because of the many roles Filipinas today are playing, most of them tend to forget sometimes who they really are. We must retain our traditional values as a Filipina but at the same time mix them with being more assertive, more go-getter and more confident about oneself.

Nadia: People see a Binibini as a role model and goddess of beauty and we have to preserve that.

Margaret: You become automatically a role model for life. Filipinas are more modern now but we shouldn’t forget our traditional roles. That, I think, is what being a Binibini is all about — being traditionally Filipina and modern at the same time.

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