REWIND: The decade PH became a ‘major, major’ pageant powerhouse

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Jan 01 2020 11:38 PM | Updated as of Jan 02 2020 11:00 PM

Beauty queens who represented the Philippines in Miss Universe in the past decade include winners Pia Wurtzbach (left-most) and Catriona Gray (middle). Instagram: @jearsantos
MANILA — Since the Philippines debuted in major international pageants in the ‘60s, the country has taken home 15 crowns — and half of that number was tallied in just the past decade.

Between 2010 and 2019, eight Filipinas wore the winner’s sash in Miss Universe (2015, 2018), Miss World (2013), Miss International (2013, 2016), and Miss Earth (2014, 2015, 2017).

And those are just the so-called “big four” competitions.

Binibining Pilipinas, the biggest national pageant, also sent representatives to Miss Intercontinental, Miss Supranational, and Miss Globe in the last 10 years. Within the decade, the Philippines clinched one crown each from the said pageants, in 2018, 2013, and 2015, respectively.

(Yes, 2013 and 2015 both saw three Filipinas being crowned on the world stage.)

The separate Miss World Philippines pageant, meanwhile, crowned its first Reina Hispinoamericana-Filipinas, who went on to win the international title in 2017.

Behind these titlists are glam teams and months of training, with beauty boot camps like Aces & Queens and Kagandang Flores helping shape and sharpen aspirants.

The resulting world wins are cause for national celebration, but so too are the dozen runner-up finishes that have also catapulted the Philippines, in the words of Venus Raj, as a “major, major” pageant powerhouse in the decade that’s passed.

Here’s a list of Filipino beauty queens who became finalists, runners-up, or winners in the “big four” pageant since 2010, with the addition of notable wins in other competitions:

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