MANILA, Philippines — Binibining Pilipinas Globe 2019 Leren Mae Bautista has just arrived in Montenegro to compete at the 2019 Miss Globe pageant to be held in Albania and Montenegro on October 21.
In a prior exclusive interview with Philstar.com, Leren explained that she joined beauty pageants partly to raise more awareness against bullying.
"Some people say that bullying is just a lame advocacy or it's a shallow advocacy. But then, when I was in elementary, I was called 'kapre, poste, negra,' kasi... during my time, the meaning of beauty is maputi, mestiza-looking... so those hurtful words I didn't even (think) to be bullying. I thought they were normal," she shared. "And then may mga boys na mantri-trip paluin o sipain ka."
The bullying continued until high school. She thought she could start a new life in the new school, but she was wrong.
"Oh, negra, poste, Leren, Leren sinta. My name was being (made fun of)... (I couldn't understand why they were doing that because) I love my name. Bakit n'yo jinojoke? My mom and dad gave it to me."
She used to think that name-calling and teasing were just "normal" among school mates, so she did not tell it to her parents and kept it to herself.
"But I didn't realize that it would have such strong impact to one person. (What) if you're not strong enough? (What) if you melt down? (What) if you do something that you didn't want to do because of that situation?" she pointed out.
Bullying, she said, has affected her self-confidence and made her ponder: "Am I really that ugly? Is there something wrong with my height? Is there something wrong with my face? With my appearance?"
But instead of engaging in fights, Leren kept herself strong and chose to become a voice to those being bullied.
"What I usually say is that I'm really lucky that I didn't stop believing in myself, that I fought."
It can be recalled that during the question and answer portion of the last Binibining Pilipinas 2019 pageant, Leren was asked by judge and Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz: “How do you define success?”
"My definition of success is raising my flag of bravery against the world. It's because I experienced hurtful words; I heard so many things that hurt my feelings. But then, that 10-year old girl stood up and fight for her rights, fight for what she believes in and she believes in herself and trusts herself. Thank you," Leren said.
If victorious, Leren could become the Philippines' third Miss Globe winner after Maricar Balagtas (2001) and Ann Lorraine Colis (2015). — Video by EC Toledo IV, editing by Kat Leandicho