Part I: Boholanas Who Made a Mark in Bb Pilipinas

With the 55^th edition of Bb. Pilipinas taking place on March 18, Your Roving Eye will take you to a stroll down memory lane and give the spotlight again to the lovely Boholanas who made a mark in the country's most prestigious beauty pageant either as winner, runner up or finalist.   

Only a handful of Boholanas have placed or made a mark in Bb. Pilipinas. In fact, only seven of them have earned the distinction.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN ARE:

THE TITLEHOLDER:

2006 Bb Pilipinas- World: Anna Maris Igpit  

2006 Anna Maris Igpit of Panglao is the first and only Boholana to have won a Bb. Pilipinas crown. She was named the country’s bet to Miss World 2006 held in Warsaw, Poland. 

She made it as Beach Beauty finalist and was voted by readers of Poland’s biggest newspaper as one of the Five Most Beautiful Miss World 2006 Candidates.

THE RUNNERS UP:

1979 Bb Pilipinas 1st Runner Up

1979 was the year that a Boholana finally made it to the winners’ circle. The beautiful Perla Fernando Salig of Loboc was named 1^st Runner Up.  Perla competed in Bb. Pilipinas after she was crowned as Queen of Circulo Boholano de Cebu, the biggest and oldest Cebu- based association of Boholanos.  

Almost immediately upon arrival in Manila, she caught the eye of the organizers and the press for her natural beauty, charming personality and unaffected manners.

The Boholana’s achievement was truly remarkable because it was rare for girls from the provinces to get noticed in the national competition. She made it on her own with no connections whatsoever.

2009 Bb Pilipinas 1^st Runner Up: Richelle Angalot  

2009. Twenty years after Perla’s 1^st RU placement, another Boholana achieved the same placement. Richelle Angalot , a GMA 7 contract star who goes by the screen name Rich Asuncion became the third Boholana  to make it in the winners’ circle after she was named 1^st Runner Up to Bianca Manalo.

Ms. Angalot already had a name in showbiz after being proclaimed in the GMA 7 reality talent search Starstruck when she competed in Bb. Pilipinas 2009.

THE FINALISTS: 

 Emma in Binibini//Emma with classmates during the 2012 BPHSN INTL.REUNION DAY

1968. Exactly 50 years ago, Emma Mumar made pageant history as the first Boholana to earn a placement as a Bb. Pilipinas Top 15 Finalist. 

1968 Bb Pilipinas Poolside Press Presentation

Photo Credits: Tony Paat

1968  Bb Pilipinas Top Fifteen

Photo Credits: Tony Paat

1968 Bb Pilipinas Board of Judges that included actress Susan Roces
Photo Credits: Tony Paat

1982 Rowena Burden, ,a brainy & beautiful doctor whose mom traces her roots in Bohol made it as Top 15 Semi- finalist in 1982.  Her batch included the controversial Maria Isabel Lopez who was crowned Bb. Universe and 1st RU Desiree Verdadero.

1982 Bb Pilipinas Top 15

With her stunning looks and gift of gab, Ms Burden impressed a lot of pageant watchers and organizers.

Right after the Bb. Pilipinas Pageant, Rowena was approached by Madame Stella Araneta and was requested to acquire some training and come back the following year. She declined saying she wanted to pursue her medical degree and she joined mainly for the experience.

The 1st RU Desiree Verdadero heeded Madame's advice, rejoined the pageant two years later, won the Bb. Universe crown and went on to place as 3rd RU in the 1984 Miss Universe Pageant.

TRIVIA: There was an uproar in Cebu where she was based that time when she represented Bohol instead of Cebu in Bb Pilipinas 1982.

1985. Tall and gorgeous Taina Manigque was already a top model in the country and a member of the prestigious Triumph Court of Fashion when she joined Bb. Pilipinas. She made it as Top 15 Semi- finalist. Taina comes from a family of beauty queens.

1985 Bb Pilipinas Top 15 Finalist

TRIVIA: Cita Capuyon and Desiree Verdadero, Bb. Pilipinas- Universe winners for 1983 and 1984, respectively, were both Triumph Court of Fashion members.

Her younger sister MariJo was named one of Tagbilaran's Five Prettiest in 1985 and her niece Margo Manigque was crowned Miss Tagbilaran 2006

2012 Bb Pilipinas Top 12 Finalist

2012. Karen Gallmann of Ubay who competed in the pageant’s 2012 edition made it as a Top Twelve Finalist.

Six years after her first attempt at Bb. Pilipinas,  Karen is back and has been picked by most pageant experts and websites as one of the most likely to win one of the crowns this year. If that happens, she will be the second Boholana to be crowned a Bb Pilipinas queen.

Watch the 55^th edition of the Bb Pilipinas Grand Coronation Night happening on Saturday, March 18, SMART Araneta Coliseum, 8 pm with delayed telecast over ABS CBN 2 on the same day.

Boholana Beauties in Bb. Pilipinas

It's Bb. Pilipinas season once again and so we take a look back into the past and remember the beautiful Boholanas who placed in the country's most prestigious beauty pageant.

Back in 1979, a lovely lady from Loboc, Bohol won 1st RU and was chosen asMiss Lux in the Bb. Pilipinas Pageant and thus became the first Boholana to place in said pageant.

What made her feat truly remarkable was the fact that she made it on her own with no connections whatsoever and it was a very competitive batch that included Criselda Dang Cecilio, Bb Universe, Mimilanie Laurel Marquez who eventually won the 1979 Miss International title and of course the very controversial Ma. Theresa "Si Ako, Si Ikaw" Carlson, Bb. Young International who passed away in the mid- 200's under very mysterious circumstances

The name of this fresh- faced Boholana beauty? Perla Salig

1979 Bb Pilipinas Queens during Perla's time: L-R: Melaniue Marquez, 
Ava Quibranza, Dang Cecilio & Theresa Carlson

Melanie Marquez eventually won Miss International 1979

 Taina Manigque is 3rd from left. Inset is Joyce Ann Burton who won the Bb Universe title

Taina Manigque is the girl in the center

Another Boholana beauty Taina Manigque, a member of the exclusive Mondragon Triumph Court of Fashion, was a Top Fifteen Finalist and Miss Lux Awardee in the 1985 edition of the pageant

Another Boholana, Rich Asuncion, equalled Perla's feat when she also  placed as 1st RU in the 2009 edition of the Bb. Pilipinas Pageant.

Anna Maris Igpit however is the first and so far, the only Boholana to have won a Bb. Pilipinas crown. She ensnared the 2006 Bb. Pilipinas- World crown and represented the country later that year in the Miss World Pageant held in Poland.

She didn't make the cut in the SMS- driven preliminaries but her exotic charms proved to be a big hit in Poland when she was selected by Poland's widely- circulated and most respected paper as one of the "Five Prettiest Miss World Girls for 2006".

Anna Maris Igpit during her triumphant return to Bohol in 2006

INTERESTING TRIVIA ON BOHOLANAS WHO MADE A MARK IN BB. PILIPINAS

1968. Emma Mumar is the first Boholana to place as a Bb. Pilipinas semifinalist which she did in the 1968 edition of the pageant.

1979. Perla Salig is the first Boholana to win a special award in Bb. Pilipinas. She was one of the Three Miss Lux Ladies in 1979.

She is also the first Boholana to place in the winners' circle when she was selected as 1st RU to Criselda "Dang" Cecilio, Bb. Universe that year

 Dr. Rowena is Forever Fabulous 

1982. Rowena Burden ,a brainy & beautiful doctor from Jagna, made it as Top 15 Semi- finalist in 1982.

Her batch included the controversial Maria Isabel Lopez who was crowned Bb. Universe and 1st RU Desiree Verdadero.

With her stunning looks and gift of gab, Ms Burden impressed a lot of pageant watchers and organizers. Right after the Bb. Pilipinas Pageant, Rowena was approached by Madame Stella Araneta and was requested to acquire some training and come back the following year.

She declined saying she wanted to pursue her medical degree and she joined mainly for the experience.

The 1st RU Desiree Verdadero heeded Madame's advice, rejoined the pageant two years later, won the Bb. Universe crown and went on to place as 3rd RU in the 1984 Miss Universe Pageant. 

1985. Taina Manigque was a Top 15 Semi- finalist and Miss Lux Lady in 1985. Taina comes from a family of beauty queens.

Her younger sister MariJo was named one of Tagbilaran's Five Prettiest in 1985 and her niece Margo Manigque was crowned Miss Tagbilaran 2006

Anna Maris Igpit is Best in Gown

2006. Anna Maris Igpit of Panglao is the first and only Boholana to have won the Best in Evening Gown award which she won in 2006 enroute to the 2006 Bb. Pilipinas- World title which makes her also as the first and only Boholana to have won a national beauty title

2009. Rich Asuncion is the first and only Boholana to have won the Miss Talent award in Bb. Pilipinas.

She also won two special corporate titles

 Rich Asuncion is the only  Miss Talent

2012. Karen Gallmann of Ubay who competed in the 2012 edition of the pageant is the first and only Boholana to have won the Miss Photogenic title.

Miss Gallmann, a pre- pageant favorite, also ended up as a Top 12 Finalist

Only the Best in Swimsuit special award remains elusive to the Boholana who has competed in Bb. Pilipinas but then as Reigh Monreal, Bohol's foremost beauty pageant connoisseur pointed out recently and if the Wikipedia entry is accurate, then we may have won it already.

 Karen Gallmann: the only Miss Photogenic

 You see, the 1988 Bb. Pilipinas- Universe titleholder Perfida Limpin and who was also selected as Best in Swimsuit listed Tagbilaran City, Bohol as her place of birth

 Perfida Limpin during Parade of Nations
Miss U 1988, Taiwan

 Perfida lists Tagbilaran City as her birthplace

  Ella Evangelista is 2003 Bb Pilipinas 2nd RU

I just found out from fellow Boholano bloggers that Noella "Ella" Evangelista traces her roots in Bohol. Although born and raised in Iligan City, the 5' 9" dusky charmer has Boholano parents so she IS 100% Boholana.

Ms Evangelista was Bb. Pilipinas 2nd RU in 2003 and represented the Philippines in an international beauty tilt, the Queen of Tourism 2004 in Mexico City which she also won.

For the record, the victory in Mexico would make Ms Noella "Ella" Buhion Evangelista as the first and only Boholana to have won an international beauty title

 

2004 Queen of Tourism winner 

With so many European expats settling in Bohol the past few years, it would come as no surprise that the next generation of Boholanos would be a veritable minefield of gorgeous Eurasian girls to complement the surfeit of dusky beauties and stunning Fil- Am girls

Who knows? A future Bb. Pilipinas titleholder just might surface from among these girls in the next decade