A nation of maids and beauty queens

Beauty with a purpose, that motto of the Miss World Competition might as well be the most appropriate description of Filipino womanhood. The Filipina beauty is not only skin deep, it is something much more meaningful and profound. It is not only in the eyes of the beholder. There is a lot more to every Filipino woman than what meets the eye. And so, that nasty woman who posted in the social network some preposterous remarks against our new Miss world, Megan Young, is entirely ignorant of the true essence of the Filipina. Those libelous and defamatory comments about our nation as the home of ''filthy maids'' and ''foul-smelling domestics'' are both outrageous and unnecessary. That woman should look back to the country of her own ancestors and be ashamed of herself. To redeem herself, she must forthwith profusely apologize.

The crowning of Megan Young as this year's Miss World, and our country's first, has completed the Philippines' rare honor and record as one of the very few nations in the whole world that has won all the major international beauty competitions. We started in 1964, with the brainy, tall and sophisticated Gemma Cruz (later, Araneta by marriage), a descendant of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, won the Miss International beauty pageant. Then, in 1969, a not-so-tall but decidedly gifted and articulate Gloria Diaz, surprisingly bested all other contestants and bagged the Miss Universe crown. She was immediately followed in 1970 by an amazing beauty, Aurora Pijuan (later Manotoc by marriage to the sportsman Tommy who later married "presidential daughter" Imee Marcos), who won our second Miss International title. In 1973, that epitome of elegance intelligence and regal poise, Margie Moran (later Floirendo, by marriage to a scion of the banana magnate from Davao), won our second Miss Universe crown.

That funny and fun-loving, tall and lanky model, Melanie Marquez, the feisty daughter of the late movie director, Temyong Marquez, won our country's third Miss International in 1979. Melanie is famous (or, is it notorious) for her colorful and creative use of the English language. ("Don't judge my brother [Joey], he is not a book"). Her lovelife was as colorful as her English. She already married four times to different men of various nationalities. And she makes fun of that, saying that she is only living up to her title as Miss International. Our country never won any global international beauty title in the entire eighties and nineties. It was only in 2005, that we captured the Miss International crown again courtesy of Miss Precious Lara Quigaman. In 2008, Karla Henry won the title of Miss Earth. And this year, Miss Johanna Datul, a simple beauty from the north won the Miss Supranational beauty tilt.

It was Precious Lara who, in the crucial question and answer portion, was asked a rather embarrassing question: "What can you say about your country gaining the reputation as the world's leading supplier of domestic helpers?" Instead of being derailed, and without batting an eyelash, Lara responded with a classic repartee: "Thank you for that very kind question. That could only mean that the women from our country who work as domestic helpers are trustworthy and honest enough to be trusted with their employers' most precious possessions, their children and their homes." She won the title hands down. Lara, by that answer, has shown the world, that having domestics as foreign workers is nothing to be ashamed about. These women work with dignity. They earn their money through hard work and honest labor. They support their families and send their children to school, help the national economy and are parts of the solution, rather than of the problem. While it has always been my advocacy to propose to government the stoppage of sending maids to work abroad, harsh economic realities do compel many of our women to seek such menial jobs in order to help their loved ones achieve a better economic and social status. And so, our DH's should not be a source of embarrassment but pride among our people. They are much more dignified than the scheming women who plunder the nation's billions. When I was Labor attaché to Malaysia, I organized a beauty contest among some DH's. It was a big hit, that the ambassador lauded it as a big morale booster. I did it again in the highly Islamic Kuwait and I got away with it. Then I put up a scholarship foundation where we sent 17 maids to college. From DH, they now work as nurses in Kuala Lumpur. The Filipina is not only a beauty, she is a blessing to our country.

Whether a maid or beauty queen, this nation cannot and will not survive without the Filipino woman. The president knows this by heart. He opted for a woman as Chief Justice, Justice Secretary, DOLE Secretary, Ambassador to China, Ombudsman, COA Chairperson, BIR Commissioner and a lot more justices, judges, commissioners, directors and other women in government. Well, the statue of liberty is a woman. The symbol of Justice is a lady. And our country is a Motherland. Mama mia! The men are the endangered species.

‘These women work with dignity. They earn their money through hard work and honest labor. They support their families and send their children to school, help the national economy and are parts of the solution, rather than of the problem’