Napakasaya ko na nakauwi na ko ulit dito sa Pilipinas. Grabe, para akong lalaban ulit,” gushed Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, hardly containing her excitement upon her arrival on Saturday in her first homecoming after winning the most beloved beauty title among Filipinos.
But, barring calamities and political grand-standing, Pia will have no competition in the next few days as her kababayans shower her with adulation, accolades and gratitude for winning the third Miss Universe crown for this insanely pageant-obsessed country.
“Gusto kong maging successful ’yung parade. Sana maraming pumunta, maraming lumabas, maraming manood,”Pia implored her fans through ABS-CBN News correspondent Dyan Castillejo.
She was referring to the Grand Homecoming Parade happening today that will start at 2 pm at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel, CCP Complex in Manila, passing through Atang de la Rama Street, Vicente Sotto Street, F. Ma. Guerrero Street, Bukaneg Street, Roxas Boulevard, Padre Burgos Avenue, Taft Avenue, Quirino Avenue, back to Roxas Boulevard, Gil Puyat Avenue en route to Ayala Avenue.
There will also be an Araneta Center Parade at 5 pm, starting at Novotel Manila Araneta Center to Gen. McArthur Avenue to Edsa and all the way to the Araneta Coliseum. Motorists have been warned by the Metro Manila Development Authority in advance of possible gridlocks across the Metro, but maybe not in the scale of Pope Francis’s visit and the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
The parades will commence after Pia makes a courtesy call to a reportedly smitten President in Malacañan Palace. She will also visit the Senate, which filed Resolution 1697, introduced by Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid, and was adopted in consideration of Resolution 1698 authored by Senate President Franklin M. Drilon.
Pia, 26, “gave Filipinos unparalleled pride and showed the world the unwavering spirit of Filipino beauty, grace and excellence. The honor earned by our Filipino beauty queen deserves to be commended for the pride and recognition that it brought the country,” stated Senator Lapid, once linked to Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez, as quoted on senate.gov.ph.
On Tuesday, Pia will visit the more important mayors of Metro Manila, after which she will proceed to the House of Congress, which will confer her with a Congressional Medal of Distinction. Will they also vote on the resolution filed by Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez of the Second District of Cagayan de Oro exempting the taxes on Pia’s Miss Universe winnings?
The congressional medal was previously given to only two individuals who excel in a nonpolitical field: boxing champ Manny Pacquiao in 2006 and 2010; and Miss World 2013 Megan Young in 2013. Quite remarkably, both Pia and Megan were rigorously trained by the beauty “school” Aces & Queens under the stewardship of Jonas Gaffud.
On Wednesday Pia will spend her time doing charity works, a hallmark of a beauty queen. “She will be conducting hospital visits to the wounded soldiers and have an encounter with the youth living with HIV,” bbpilipinas.com shared.
HOMECOMING QUEEN(S)
The Miss Universe Homecoming Special will be on Thursday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. I am hoping all of our previous representatives to Miss Universe will be there, especially Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Aspillera Diaz and Miss Universe 1973 Maria Margarita Roxas Moran. I don’t know if Margie still has her sash, but Gloria sold hers in a charity auction (or was it only a replica?), but they should both wear their crowns, too.
I’m pretty sure the historic night will also be a grand gathering of past Binibining Pilipinas-Universe winners (now officially called Miss Philippines-Universe), so I would love to see those that haven’t been seen in public events for years, such as Vida Doria (Miss Photogenic 1971), Guadalupe Sanchez (Top 12, 1974), Elizabeth de Padua (1976), Jennifer Cortez (1978), Geraldine Asis (1987), Aileen Damiles (Miss Photogenic 1996) and Carla Gay Balingit (2003). And everyone from the 1960s.
REALLY, QUEEN(S)?
That should be thrown with all the shade and venom worthy of acerbic-drag queen Bianca del Rio to all of Pia’s co-contestants who still haven’t ceased bashing her. First there was Miss Germany (surprising since Pia is half-German), then Miss India (sad because she’s also Asian), Miss Montenegro, Miss Peru, Miss Australia and the latest being Miss Venezuela.
Every time anyone bashes Pia, some of her supporters fight back and flood the social accounts of the bashers with hurtful counterattacks. But one of Pia’s advocacies is to fight cyberbullying. So how will she address this disturbing development when her most rabid fans become the most brutal cyberbullies?
QUEEN(S) OF THE NIGHT
At the nail-biting tail end of the Miss Universe pageant last December 20 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, the Philippines and Colombia were both gunning for a third title for their equally pageant-crazy countries. A third win for any of them would have tied them with Sweden, which won in 1955 (Hillevi Rombin), 1966 (Margareta Arvidsson) and 1984 (Yvonne Ryding).
Colombia was also aiming for a rare back-to-back title (achieved only by Venezuela in 2008 with Dayana Mendoza, and 2009, Stefania Fernandez), as the reigning queen was the Colombian Paulina Vega. The country was still mourning the recent death of its first winner, Luz Marina Zuluaga (1958). (Sylvia Hitchcock, Miss Universe 1967 from the US, also died in August 2015. She was at the 1974 Miss Universe pageant in Manila.)
The Philippines, meanwhile, was coming off an impressive sixth successive placement at the Top 10, but with a 42-year insatiable longing for the title.
So when the comedian Steve Harvey declared Ariadna Gutierrez of Colombia as the winner, my circulatory system immediately shut down. Oxygen, however, still found its way to my brain and I rationalized: Oh this must be another heartbreak of the Janine Tugonon magnitude.
I was ready to wallow in the agony of defeat again (for the sixth consecutive time), but when the comedian Steve Harvey went back onstage, I just knew (or hoped) that Pia was the rightful queen. My throat immediately constricted (I shriek like a banshee), as I muffled my screams (I was watching alone in my room in a pension house in Cagayan de Oro).
I like reliving those maddening moments, from the depths of despair to the highest of hossannas. So, yes, I haven’t moved on. With Queen P now in the Philippines, how can I?