MISS CEBU GOES AFTER BB. CROWN
Cebu is ready to win yet another crown with three beautiful candidates having qualified for Binibining Pilipinas 2018. One of them is Cebu’s very own Miss Cebu 2015.
“To be honest, I enjoy watching beauty pageants more than actually joining them. In fact, I was only encouraged and to some extent, slightly coerced by family and friends to join the last two pageants I won (Miss UP Cebu 2012 and Miss Cebu 2015). Everyone keeps saying that they see something in me, that I have the potential to become a beauty queen or someone that people can look up to, and perhaps it was then that I started believing in myself,” said Wynonah Van Joy Buot, one of the candidates for this year’s Binibining Pilipinas.
Buot is a Mass Communication graduate of the University of the Philippines Cebu, where she was crowned Miss UP Cebu in 2012. A year after graduating Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication, she stepped up and won Miss Cebu 2015. Now at the age of 24, Buot continues to challenge herself and aims for a bigger crown.
“At 24, I’m at a point in my life where I feel that taking risks, even as big as joining Binibining Pilipinas, is necessary. The year 2018 will be a determining year for me. Future plans will take place depending on the results of this new endeavor and it’s both scary and exciting. I am just so overwhelmed by everyone’s support. It somehow reassures me that this huge risk is definitely going to be worth it,” she said.
The beauty queen is the second to the last Miss Cebu hailed by the competition before it was dissolved and was replaced with Binibining Cebu last year.
“It came as a shock. A lot of people were sad and disappointed, including myself. I was able to work closely with the organization, being the 31st Miss Cebu, and I am one with the people who supported the pageant and believed in its advocacy since Day One,” said Buot. “The years reflect how Miss Cebu has already become an institution and a source of pride among Cebuanos. It has produced women with substance who later became successful in their own careers both nationally and internationally. It was a painful thing to accept but we all had to move on. Nevertheless, those were 32 beautiful years.”
Now facing a bigger battle to win, Buot said: “Binibining Pilipinas is a different ball game. It’s much bigger than Miss Cebu, of course—from representing a province to an entire archipelago. To me, it’s the most anticipated pageant in the country because of its direct correlation to Miss Universe, which has proven itself to be the most important pageant there is.”
“Binibining Pilipinas is more than just a battle of beauty and brains. It’s really the search for the ambassadress who can best represent the character, courage and culture of a true Filipina.”
Binibining Pilipinas 2018 will be the 55th edition of the pageant and it will be taking place at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on March 18. The winning candidates will be representing the Philippines in various international pageants: Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Supranational, Miss Grand International, Miss Globe and Miss Intercontinental./