When Catriona Gray Massacred the Competition

It was no contest. Catriona Gray who shone bright like no other proved that number 13 is a lucky number and proceeded to massacre the competition. It was game over the moment she stepped onstage then sashayed and glided on the runway. 

The 22 year old model who towered over the rest of the girls at 5' 10" won nine of the 11 special awards Miss Figlia, Miss Organique, Miss Folded and Hung, Miss Talent, Miss Manila Hotel, Miss Hannah, Best in Fashion Runway, Best in Swimsuit and Best in Long Gown. 

The awards that slipped through her dainty fingers were Miss Photogenic and Miss Friendship. 

 Hillarie Parungao passes on the crown to Cat
Photo Credits: Bong Tan

During the final speech segment where the final five gave prepared answers to the question “Why should you be Miss World Philippines?” Catriona Gray answered: 

To be a Miss World is to be passed a torch that burns with passion and purpose. If I am to become Miss World Philippines, I will use my voice and essence to carry that torch and set charitable causes alight, such as my personal advocacy, the Paraiso: Bright Beginnings project, and I would focus on passing on this torch to empower others because I believe together, there is no darkness in this world that our light cannot overcome.

In fairness, Arianne Calingo gave the best memorized speech but no one can deny Catriona Gray the crown. She simply was unstoppable and the crown was hers to lose.

  4th, 2nd, Cory Quirino, MWP 2016, 1st and 3rd


 

Rounding out the top five were 1st Princess Arienne Calingo, 2nd Princess Ivanna Pacis, 3rd Princess Marah Muñoz and 4th Princess Sandra Lemonon

Catriona Gray is Washington DC-, USA bound this December as she attempts to give the Philippines its second Miss World crown 

Congratulations & Good luck Ms Gray!

Miss Spain is Miss World 2015, Miss Philippines is in the Top Ten

We have been so caught up with the excitement involving the Mother of All Pageants that Hillarie Parungao’s impressive performance during Miss World was sidelined. 

Hillarie may not have brought home the crown nor finished in the Final Five but to win the Multi Media Award and to place in the Top Ten from a field of 130 beauty delegates competing in the pageant held in Sanya, China is not to be sneezed at. 

It was just unfortunate for Hillarie that the world's two biggest & longest- running beauty competitions had to be staged only a day apart. For pageant- crazed Philippines, it's a no- brainer; Miss Universe is the more popular and more recognized between the two pageants.

Everyone thought that Hillarie would make the Final Five for prior to the final cut from ten to five girls only, she was ranked fourth in the Miss World “leaderboard” based on points she earned from the preliminary events.

 Miss Philippines in the Top Model Challenge Event 

 Hillarie was the second Pinay after Megan to be
spotlighted in the Dances of the World

Crowned Miss World 2015 at the Crown of Beauty Theater in Sanya, China, the day before Miss Universe 2015 was beamed live to a worldwide audience estimated at nearly a billion was Miss Spain Mireia Lalaguna Royo. Named 1^st Princess was Miss Russia and 2^nd Princess was Miss Indonesia.

 Outgoing Miss World Rolene Strauss crowns the new queen

The Final Five were INDONESIA, Beauty with a Purpose Winner, JAMAICA, LEBANON, RUSSIA and SPAIN - TOP MODEL winner

 Miss World 2015 with the rest of the Top Five Finalists

The Top Eleven were RUSSIA, PHILIPPINES -MULTIMEDIA winner, GUYANA, TALENT winner, LEBANON, SPAIN, INDONESIA, JAMAICA, FRANCE, SOUTH AFRICA, AUSTRALIA and VIETNAM

 

 Miss Philippines (2nd from left) & the other Top 11 Finalists 

 VISIT lazada.com.ph HERE

Rounding out the Top Twenty were NETHERLANDS, BRAZIL, KAZAKHSTAN, POLAND, NEW ZEALAND, CHINA PR, SOUTH SUDAN, SCOTLAND, ECUADOR and NORTHERN IRELAND

So Who Organized the Search for RP's Bet to Miss World During the Last Fifty Years?

GOLDEN GIRL THIS YEAR

Hillarie Danielle Ang Parungao holds the distinction of being the country’s Golden Girl for Miss World.

The beauty queen from Solano, Nueva Vizcaya is the 50th Pinay to wear the Miss Philippines sash in the Miss World Pageant.

This includes the two years when our bets were pulled out from the pageant

(The Philippines competed in 1976 & 1977 but the delegates were asked by the Philippine government to withdraw before coronation night as a sign of protest against South Africa’s apartheid policy)

THE NATIONAL FRANCHISE HOLDERS: (Through the Years)

During the Philippines' 50 golden years of Miss World participation, the selection of the country's representatives were handled by seven different organizing bodies also known in the pageant world as the franchise holders.

1966   Vivien Lee Austria (real name: Emraida Kelly Kiram, a real- life princess) was chosen as the first- ever Philippine delegate to Miss World through the Miss Inter- Collegiate Girl Search organized by the College Editors Guild of the Philippines in partnership with Beauty World,Inc. by Eddie Marfori. I suppose she won for her regal beauty, innate elegance and I suppose, for her writing skills.

 Vivien Lee Austria

1967  Maita Favis Gomez was chosen as the Philippines' representative to the Miss World Beauty contest during the selection of the 1967 Top Ten Fashion Models of the Philippines, a glittering fund- raising project of the Scholarship Foundation of the Filipino Youth.

 Maita Favis Gomez is RP's bet in 1967

1968 Beauty World, Ltd. for Miss Philippines became a new Miss World franchise holder. Even though the franchise that also  selected the country's bets to the Int'l Teen Princess Pageant in Chicago, Illinois, USA & the Queen of the Pacific Quest in Australia lasted for only a year, it was able to discover Cecilia "Pinky" Amabuyok whose 4th Runner Up finish made her the first Filipina to place in Miss World.

 Cecilia Amabuyok

 1969 the first Miss Republic of the Philippines Pageant debuted when Spotlight Promotions of Ferdie Villar obtained the franchise to select the Philippines’ delegate for the annual Miss World beauty pageant.

 Feliza Teresita Nuesa Miro

The beautiful Feliza Teresita Nuesa Miro who is best remembered for winning over heavy favorite Vida Doria became the first Miss Republic of the Philippines. Miss Republic of the Philippines had its final year in 1976.

NOTE: Vida was crowned two years later as 1971 Bb Pilipinas- Universe and holds the distinction of being the first Miss Philippines to be selected as Miss Photogenic in Miss Universe during the pageant’s 1971 edition.

1977 Mutya ng Pilipinas founded by Leandro “Biboy” Enriquez acquired the franchise to select the country’s candidate for Miss World in 1977 with Anna Melissa “Peachy” Ofilada Veneracion as the first winner.

 Mutya 77 Peachy Veneracion

  www.lazada.com.ph

Days before the crowning of the new Miss World, Peachy was pressured by the Philippine government to withdraw from the competition despite being installed as a heavy favorite for the crown.

Mutya ng Pilipinas Organization held the franchise until 1991.

1992 Bb Pilipinas Charities Inc. was awarded the franchise in 1992 and the first titleholder was the tall Marilen Espino who was the 1988 Ford SuperModel of the World- Philippines winner.

 Marilen Espino

Marilen vowed to do well in the Miss World pageant to acquit a forgettable participation in the international modeling tilt but it was not to be.

In a dramatic and heartbreaking turn of events, Marilen contracted chicken pox on the eve of her departure for Miss World and so it was Marina Benipayo, who was originally crowned as Bb Pilipinas- Maja 1992, who was sent as a last- minute replacement. Marina may not have won the crown but will forever be remembered by pageant fans as the first representative under the Bb Pilipinas Charities Inc. franchise.

During the 2010 Bb Pilipinas Pageant, Czarina Gatbonton became the last of the Binibinis to be crowned as Bb Pilipinas- World titleholder.

2011  Miss World Organization Chairman Julia Morley awarded the Miss World franchise to CQ Global Quest Inc., managed by Cory Quirino, on January 25, 2011. The Miss World Philippines pageant is inspired by the Miss World Ltd.'s slogan "Beauty with a Purpose" and henceforth adopted the theme "Beauty in Giving."

The winner and her court work with charities that benefit children in need and also join movements of supporting women and children's rights and many more advocacy projects.  

So far, the four- year old Miss World Philippines of CQ Global Quest Inc has the most impressive batting average as far as performance in the international finals is concerned.

Aside from producing a Miss World winner, a 1^st Runner Up, a Top 15 SemiFinalist and a Top 25 Semifinalist, it has two Asia’s Continental Queen of Beauty special awardees and a Top Model Challenge winner. 

Thanks to Mr Tony Paat, BB Pilipinas, Missosology and others

Filipinas Who Made a Mark in Miss World: 1993 – 2015

Here now is the long- overdue Part Two of the list of Filipina delegates who placed or made a mark in Miss World.

Twenty years after the Philippines almost bagged its first Miss World crown courtesy of Evangeline Pascual who did it in 1973, another Filipina placed in the Top Three. Movie star & commercial endorser Ruffa Sharmaine Rama Gutierrez was declared 1993 Miss World 2^nd Princess and was also named the Continental Queen of Asia and Oceania.

Earlier that year, Ruffa generated a lot of controversy and even caused the walkout of some candidates and applicants when she was selected as a Binibini official candidate. 

Although Ruffa, undeniably the most popular girl and the heavy favorite who gave one of the best answers during the Bb Pilipinas Q & A, she was awarded the Bb- World crown instead of the cherished Bb- Universe title that she was aiming for. 

On hindsight, it was a brilliant move from Madame Stella Marquez Araneta to send Ruffa to Miss World. In a country fixated and enamoured with Miss Universe, millions of Filipinos were glued in on TV to watch Ruffa’s outstanding performance. 

Overnight, the Miss World brand became a byword among Pinoy pageant and non- pageant fans.

1994 Caroline 'Cara' Villarosa Subijano. The tall and leggy University of Berkeley graduate and 1991 Ford SuperModel of the World- Philippines winner kept the Philippines on the Miss World map by getting the call as the first of the Top Ten semi-finalists.

She would have advanced to the Final Five were it not for the heinous gown that she wore for the finals. Her white evening gown was reported to have suddenly disappeared and was nowhere to be found hours before the Miss World finals. 

From this Bb Pilipinas gown to this horrendous gown during Miss World finals

1996 Daisy Reyes almost did not get to fly to Bangalore, India to compete in Miss World that year. She was dethroned for a day but got her title back after treshing out a problem with Bb. Pilipinas Charities Inc. 

Although she didn’t win over the judges, she did capture the hearts and the votes of her fellow candidates when was voted as Miss Personality (the equivalent to Miss Friendship).

 Daisy’s Miss World 1996 intro

 Daisy with fellow Bb 1996 queens                                

Venezuela- trained Lalaine 

1999 Lalaine Edson. Imagine what could or would have happened had Miriam Quiambao, original winner of the 1999 Bb Pilipinas- World title been sent to Miss World instead of Lalaine Edson? 

The title- swapping was an offshoot to the dethronement of Janelle Bautista, the original Bb. Pilipinas- Universe winner. Miriam did a wise and popular move; she declined the chance to go to Miss World so other girls would have the same chance and opportunity that she had been given.

Despite the training in Caracas, Venezuela, Lalaine failed to advance to the semifinals. 

After the pageant, she was nowhere to be found and she never bothered to return to the country.

Year 2002 was to be the start of four consecutive placements for Miss Philippines in Miss World.  Katherine Anne 'Kathy' Ramos Manalo, famously known as the older sister of Pamela Bianca Manalo, 2009 Bb Pilipinas- Universe winner, silenced her detractors with a slimmer & fitter version of herself when she appeared during the Miss World finals. She finished in the Top Ten

Kathy Manalo did us proud in 2002

Originally planned with Nigeria as pageant finals venue by virtue that the reigning queen Agbani Darego was from Nigeria, the pageant was moved to London at the last minute because it caused a riot that resulted in more than a hundred deaths.   

2003 Maria Rafael 'Mafae' Verdadero Yunon made the country proud not only for her fashionable wardrobe and unforgettable red evening gown with matching strappy heels but also for landing in the Final Five. 

Earlier, she was selected as one of the Best Ten for the Beach Beauty Challenge of the pageant. She is the niece of Desiree Verdadero who was Miss Universe 1984 3^rd Runner Up.

In 2004, Miss Cebu 2003 Karla Rabanal Bautista not only made the Top Five, she was also one of the five girls chosen as Beach Beauty Challenge finalists, Top Ten in Miss Talent and one of the girls handpicked by the organizers to face the media during the Miss World Press Conference. She also won the Continental Queen of Asia and Oceania special title. 

                                                                                    

Karla makes the Top Five in Beach Beauty

 Carlene :  The Girl to Beat
in Miss World 2005

THE GIRL TO BEAT 

Just a few months after being crowned Bb Pilipinas- World 2005, Carlene Aguilar created a loud buzz online when she was picked by pageant fans and experts from around the globe as the girl who had the strongest chance of being crowned Miss World 2005.

Her Oriental beauty, porcelain skin and previous pageant experiences (winner of the first edition of Miss Philippines- Earth held in 2001, Miss Earth 2001 Top Ten Finalist, 2003 Miss Internet 2^nd Runner Up) made Carlene the top fave even before the Miss World Pageant got underway. 

Weeks then days leading to the pageant finals, London bookmakers and pageant websites were unanimous in putting Carlene on top of their prediction lists and fearless forecasts.

It was   not to be. Carlene just buckled under the intense pressure to deliver during the pageant finals  that was judged for the first and only time by a panel composed of former Miss World titleholders. 

Carlene could only manage a Top 15 placement and a relatively unknown Miss Korea who won the Best World Designer award for her gown even managed to snatch the Continental Beauty for Asia special award from Miss Philippines. 

For the record, Carlene is the first and the only Filipina to have competed in two of the four major international beauty pageants in the world. 

2006 Anna Maris Igpit. The 2005 Miss Bohol winner from Panglao, Bohol may not have made the final cut but she was a Beach Beauty Challenge finalist and in a poll conducted by Gwiazdy, the leading Polish newspaper, readers picked the morena beauty as one of the Five Most Beautiful Miss World Candidates from more than a hundred beauty delegates.

voted by Poland's leading newspaper as one of
five most beautiful Miss World ladies 

2008 Danielle Castanos replaced controversial You Tube sensation Janina San Miguel who resigned from her Bb Pilipinas- World title for still unconfirmed reasons. Danielle made the Top Ten of Miss World’s Beach Beauty pre- pageant event. 

 Danielle did well despite the last- minute preparations

2011 Gwendoline Ruais may  just be the poster girl for steely determination. After she failed to get the judges’ nod for a Bb Pilipinas crown in 2010, the very tall Filipina- French mademoiselle resurfaced a year later for the inaugural edition of Miss World Philippines, organized by the new franchise holder & National Director Cory Quirino.

 

almost but not quite.  

After being named the Philippine delegate for the 2011 Miss World, she went to the international finals armed with confidence and with the poise & charm of a Filipina.

Aside from duplicating the 1^st Runner Up finish of Evangeline Pascual and being named Asia’s Continental Queen of Beauty, she also made her mark in many of the pre- pageant challenge events: 2nd RU in the Top Model event, Top 5 of Beauty with a Purpose and Top 20 in the Beach Beauty contest.  She returned to the pageant in 2013 as Miss World web presenter

2012 Queenierich Rehman The Pinay of Middle Eastern descent placed in the Top Five of the Talent Challenge with her showstopping beatboxing. She made it to the Top 15 in the Ordos, Mongolia finals. 

Queenierich during the Top 15 announcement


 

Finally, after 48 years of disappointments & near- misses, the Philippines finally struck gold with Megan Young who won in Bali, Indonesia. 

Installed as the heavy favorite even before she landed in Indonesia, Megan reinforced her frontrunner status with a well- received triumph in a field of more than 100 beauty delegates including Miss United States Olivia Jordan who is now competing in Miss Universe 2015 with Pia Wurztbach. 

Megan placed in the Top Five in three Challenge Events including the Best Model Challenge which she won. 

    

2014 Valerie Weigmann Hopes were high that the half German Filipina with Dresden doll features would duplicate the triumph of Megan Young. It was not to be and her Miss World journey concluded with a Top 25 finish. Not bad at all considering that more than a hundred beauties competed for the crown in London.

 Victorious Valerie as Miss World Philippines 2014

This year, all eyes are on Hillarie Danielle Ang Parungao whose impossibly perfect facial beauty screams Miss World! With the scrapping of the swimsuit competition from the Miss World pageant and with emphasis on facial beauty, charm and the interpersonal skills of an ambassador, hopes are high that Hillarie will make a splash in Miss World! 

 High hopes for Hillarie

Keep posted here for updates on Miss World 2015

Thanks to Sir Tony Paat & other photo archivists