Cebuanas at MUP 2022: National Costume and Preliminary Interview

CEBU, Philippines —  Candidates representing Cebu at the ongoing Miss Universe Philippines 2022 competition became canvasses for their talented designers as their creations were unveiled Tuesday during the National Costume Presentation.

This year’s theme was HABI (weaving), which means the 32 finalists were required to have costumes that were 30 percent comprised of Philippine textiles or weaving.

Cebu Province’s Lou Dominique Piczon, who is vying for the title for the second time, came out as a Banig Festival Queen courtesy of her mentor Danny Booc – the same designer who also crafted her winning Bibingka Vendor national costume during the pageant’s 2019 edition.

The modern Filipiniana was said to be inspired by women from Badian, a municipality south of Cebu, who have been weaving banig for generations as a means of livelihood. It showcases the Banig Festival Queen in her full regalia embellished with wooden beads, abaca ropes, rhinestones and back details depicting popular symbols associated with Cebu Province.

Lapu-Lapu City’s Sashi Chiesa donned a modern hyper-feminized version of the Barong Tagalog by designer Axel Que who made waves last year for her national costume creations for Miss World Philippines 2021 Tracy Maureen Perez and Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez.

Que also conceptualized the national costume of Cebu City’s Chantal Elise Schmidt – with some netizens pointing out its resemblance in structure to Gomez’s Bakunawa attire. Dubbed Perla del Mar de Oriente (Pearl of the Orient Seas), it aimed to personify the beauty and bounty of the Philippine seas.

In a social media post, Schmidt shared how the costume literally was the result, and resulted to,, blood, sweat and tears. “I fainted twice from heat and exhaustion and I have cuts all over my arms from the fabric,” she wrote.

“I collapsed when I first stood up to do my walk as my costume was heavy, we had been waiting in the heat for a while, had a 3 am call time, and were all dehydrated. After I collapsed the first time, I insisted on doing my walk as I wanted to do justice to the masterpiece that @axlaxelque created! I gathered all of my strength, did my walk, and promptly collapsed again after.”

Mandaue City’s Isabel Luche seemed to have a hefty headgear with roosters perched atop for her Sabong costume that was credited to her uncle, Mark Barry Luche.

Considered one of the most popular pastimes in the Philippines, the Tiktoker’s costume hopes to shed light on cockfighting “as a thriving Filipino culture; that there may be issues surrounding gambling and the event of abduction during the rise of e-sabong but this is not the context of this costume. This is to showcase that there is an elan and elegance in cockfighting.”

Meanwhile edited below for brevity and clarity are the answers of the Cebuanas in the Preliminary Interview that preceded the Swimsuit and Evening Gown Preliminaries on Wednesday:

In a nutshell, tell us your story from childhood to now that puts a smile on your face?

Chantal: Sadly I did not have a very pleasant life. I grew up with depression. However, I have learned that despite my depression and anxiety, my coping mechanism has always been laughter. Which is why you will always see me laughing, smiling, and giggling even in the most inappropriate moments. Which is why I’m laughing now – I might be nervous.

Lou: I grew up as a Disney baby. I have a wide imagination which I think helped me growing up. I like to perform on stage, be an inspiration to kids and make them believe their dreams can come true with determination and the will to prove it.

Isabel: Me and my brother have been raised by a single mother, but she’s now married. I’m so happy that I was raised in a humble family.

Sashi: My mind goes straight to a sad story of being part of a broken family and my parents getting a divorce. But it puts a smile on my face because of how we went through that, how we recovered, and how we became stronger. I became an independent woman because I saw how dependent my mom was.

What is the funniest experience you’ve had with your closest friends or things that make you LOL?

Chantal: Again it is a bittersweet story. My best friend and I, we bond over our struggles. We are the type who turn everything into a funny experience. We will literally come home from therapy together, and we will laugh about our mental breakdowns. That’s what moves us forward really. No moment is ever too dark for me and my friend because we use laughter to light up the whole room.

Lou: My dear friends have the simplest ways of making me laugh. They can easily read me like an open book. One time we just went on a drive to the mountains and we just see simple things on the road, they comment on it, and it simply makes me laugh. I appreciate the friendship I have with them.

Isabel: I’m actually an island girl, I love being in the ocean. One thing we usually do is go out on a tuyom adventure – we eat sea urchins. That is my favorite seafood and I hope you guys can try it too.

Sashi: A lot of the time they call me Sashi Savage. They say I’m very blunt and upfront. The truth is I’m just being nice and honest – and I think they like that trait in me that I am kind but I also want to be real.

Women’s health and well-being is a major part of Miss Universe Philippines’ advocacy this year. How do you encourage women to take a more active role in this advocacy?

Chantal: I will tell them to never yield because as a woman you are often told that you’re health or education is secondary. A lot of that is not prioritized in society. So as a woman, you must never back down, you must always take a stand when it comes to not only your health, but also those of the marginalized – those who cannot speak up for themselves.

Lou: I think it is important that we focus on ourselves. By that, we are able to pay it forward to other women. I think that empowerment should be within ourselves because it is a will that can easily influence others and can really change the community.

Isabel: As a woman we should always take good care of ourselves. We should be aware of important things like our health. As they say, health is wealth, so we should invest our time in making ourselves better and healthy.

Sashi: I actually went to medical school for three years and I realized that we don’t focus enough on women. Especially in our textbooks in med school, it was based on male examples. We need female diagrams, female examples of all races, types and sizes. Not only is women’s health important, but also the education of women’s health is important – and that’s what I’d like to focus on.

What advice can you give to a young woman for her to become more socially aware and become empowered?

Chantal: Growing up with depression, for me to understand the harsh realities of the world, I needed to allow myself to thrive and to heal on my own terms. So I told myself that regardless of what happens, regardless of what I feel – I was going to be an inspiration. I was going to take a stand. I was going to be a woman of power.

Isabel: As an active social media person, I believe it is important that we read articles, [be] informed with news and what is happening around the world.

Sashi: Be self-aware to then be socially aware. Get to know yourself, reflect on who you are, understand your purpose and what makes you happy as a person. Not what your parents want you to do, not your friends or society. And then you can learn to be more social and contribute to society