For model-actress Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, the old adage “try and try until you succeed” may have beeb true after she was named Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 2015 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum two Sundays ago. On her third and last chance at winning a beauty title, the 25-year-old Fil-German beauty was visibly stunned and shaken as outgoing title-holder Mary Jean Lastimosa, herself a third-time candidate, placed the crown on her head.
Wurtzback was a runner up in 2013 and semi-finalist in 2014.
Janicel Lubina, a heavy favorite for the top title, took the Bb. Pilipinas-International 2015 title after being adjudged best in swimsuit and best in evening gown. The 19-year-old, former Miss Bikini Philippines and runner up to Megan Young in Miss World Philippines 2013, is a living Cinderella having once worked as a maid in her province of Palawan.
Wurtzbach, a Culinary Arts graduate from Cagayan de Oro City, nailed the question and answer when she was asked about her thoughts on Internet censorship by Congresswoman Leni Robredo. “I think that we should be careful with what we post online, especially our thoughts and our opinions, that we don’t hurt anybody, especially selfies. We have to be careful with what we post, with our bodies and our faces. So always think before you click,” Wurtzbach answered in English, learning from experience when she answered in Filipino in last year’s pageant. Giving her autograph backstage after her win, Wurtzbach said, “I can’t believe it, now I am signing autographs.”
Lubina gave a simple answer to the question “What is more important, a successful career or a happy home?” also from Robredo. “We can have both. We can’t let challenges change our life. I want to pursue my education to have a happy life.”
Other winners were Bb. Pilipinas – Intercontinental Christi Lyn McGarry, Bb. Pilipinas – Supranational Rogelie Catacutan and Bb. Pilipinas – Tourism International Ann Lorraine Colis.
The big question now is, will Wurtzback and the other girls break last year’s losing streak of the Filipino girls in the various beauty contests?
How long was it when the Philippines brought home the Miss Universe crown? In the last years, most of the girls sent by Stella Marquez Araneta to the pageant almost but didn’t quite get the title. And this situation has even made some beauty pageant observers clamor for changes in how the local pageant is administered.
It will be a heavy burden for all these girls when they set foot in their respective pageants, because the thought of losing can haunt them while they are trying to make a good impression to the organizers and eventually the judges.
The board of judges, led by Justiuce Secretary Leila de Lima and BPCI director Stella Marquez Araneta, also included Kiefer Ravena, Vice Ganda, Sofitel general manager Bernd Schneider, Sarah Meier, COO of Robinsons Frederick Go, AFP Chief of Staff General Gregorio Catapang, Jr., French Ambassador Gilles Garachon, Ambassador of Chile Luis Lillo and Camarines Sur Represantive LEni Robredo.