How It All Started

If anyone ever told me when I was younger that someday I would be a beauty queen, I would’ve just straight out smiled, said thanks, and walked away. Who would have thought that it would actually come true??

My mom was a beauty queen during her time, she was one of Cebu’s Five Prettiest and she was also a finalist for Binibining Pilipinas (Miss Philippines) 1979! But growing up, I never really imagined myself following her footsteps. She never really talked me into doing pageants either. So how did it all start exactly?

I guess there were already signs here and there throughout the years. I liked performing, I liked being on stage, I liked heels (even when I was really young), and I would be invited to join school pageants from time to time!

Fast forward to my first job, I was chosen to participate in our company pageant. Little did I know, this would open the doors to pageantry for me. How? Well, one day at work I received a call from the Miss Cebu Foundation telling me that I ‘passed’ the initial screening and that I was to go to the office for the final screening and panel interview. The weird part about it? I DID NOT send an application for any pageant, let alone Miss Cebu which was the most prestigious pageant in the city! I started panicking and told my bosses about it – to my surprise, they just had this huge smile on their faces and told me they filed an application for me and submitted my photos from our company pageant! They even helped me every step of the way, made sure I could still work and at the same time attend the pageant activities. Looking back now, I really don’t think I would be Miss World Philippines if not for them! I owe every bit of experience, growth, and triumph to them.

From then on, I joined big competitions every single year until I won my Binibining Cebu Charity 2018 crown and felt worthy to represent my city in the national competition. I joined Miss World Philippines 2019 for my very first national competition and kept trying until I finally became Miss World Philippines 2021!

Moral of the story is? Keep trying, keep growing, and keep believing! You too can do it!