The Philippines is one
nation where beauty pageant is a national issue. With 5 Miss International
crown and 2 Miss Universe titles, 4 Miss Asia Pacific Quest scepter and crown,
and one each in Miss World and Miss Supranational, the country ranks up there
as one country that has sash factor in every beauty pageant it fields a candidate. But the latest news from Trump camp is that there
will be no 2014 Miss Universe and instead, by January 2015, a new Miss Universe
will be crowned.
Based on social networks
feedback, it seems that Filipinos are not bothered by this turn of events. And one might wonder how come, all of a
sudden, Pinoys are stoic with this news.
Here are some assumptions and suppositions:
2. It
is already less than two years till the next elections. Filipinos are more
sensitive as to who will be the next political leader considering that the
country is divided if it really deserves the leadership that it has right now
or eject him and worry what the future holds within the remaining term of the
current president.
3. It
could be that Filipinos are back on their usual self; resting on their own laurel.
With so many achievements in the beauty pageant circuit, that is enough balm
for many Pinoys to sooth their frustrations when several years and decades ago,
it is miracle for a Filipina to even end up as winner or as semi-finalist.
4. Calamities
after calamities, Filipinos have realized that winning beauty pageants do
not matter at all, as the Yolanda situation has proven that foreign aid will
come and many Filipinos are still recovering from one disaster to another. Who needs news that Filipinas are crowned as
beauty queens when it cannot be translated as aids to alleviate their
conditions?
5. The
Filipinos have already accepted the idea that we are indeed a nation of
beautiful people and that there is no need for beauty pageants to affirm the truth. What they need right now are solutions to traffic, the MRT
issue, the corruption dilemma, the leadership factor, and even the National
Artist brouhaha.
6. Social
networks has provided countless material for Filipinos to share, like, and, post. Thus, many do not encounter the Facebook post that the next Miss
Universe will be in Florida by January 2015.
It drowned from posts that deal about Philippine politics.
7. Lastly,
many Filipinos might have been frustrated that after all that 41 years later since
Margie Moran won, what the country achieved are bunch of runner-ups and
semi-finalists. So, why bother?
Personally, it could be a
blessing that Filipinos are not reacting wildly with this latest
development. It can only mean that they
have finally realized that there are more practical issues to deal with or they have accepted the fact that
reality beauty pageants should be considered as an entertainment portion of
their lives and not a national issue.
Opinions by Alden I. Bula
Opinions by Alden I. Bula
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