Muling nadagdagan ang mahaba nang listahan ng mga Pilipinang nag-uwi ng korona mula sa international pageant. Ito’y matapos makoronahan ang tubong Cagayan de Oro na si Cinderella Faye Obeñita bilang ikalawang Pinay na itinanghal na Miss Intercontinental nitong Sabado, Oktubre 30.
Baguhan man sa entablado ng pageant scene, hindi maikakailang malakas na kandidata si Cinderella lalo na pagdating sa kanyang communication skills na kadalasa'y sinusuri sa maraming beauty pageants kabilang ang Miss Intercontinental.
Kung sa kolokyal na paglalarawan nga ng mga netizens, “bumubula ang bibig” ng kandidata sa oras na umabot na sa question and answer portion.
Nang unang sumabak sa pageant si Cinderella sa Miss Cagayan de Oro 2019, siya ang sumalo sa naging Final 3 question ng Miss Universe 2015 kung saan nauwi ng kapwa Cagay-anon ang noo’y mailap na Miss Universe crown.
Paano nanlamon ang kandidata sa katanungang, “Why should you be the next Miss Cagayan de Oro?”
“I should be the next Cagayan De Oro because I have a heart of gold. I know my purpose. I look up to my purpose to be of service to my fellow Cagay-anons. I should become an inspiration to my fellow Cagay-anons here and anywhere in the world so that they could emulate and follow my footsteps. And I think that is what all of us should inculcate in ourselves—that we should live in purpose because I am living a purpose in fighting against cervical cancer. If we can do that, we can always shine like gold in the eyes of the world.”
Mic dropped!
Trending naman sa Twitter ang naging sagot ni Cinderella sa Binibining Pilipinas 2021 kung saan nabunot ng kandidata ang katanunganng kilalang designer na si Michael Cinco.
“How important are luxury items like bags, clothes, and jewelry for a woman, when the national economy is down and struggling?”
Huli mang sumagot si Cinderella, tila sisiw lang para sa kandidata ang grace under pressure question and answer portion kung saan muli na namang nagpabilib ang kandidata sa kanyang matalas na communication skills.
“In life, we always find ourselves in a crossroad of choices. Women always have a choice - whether to prioritize luxury items while we are facing a pandemic, and we also have a choice to embrace the concept of a New Beautiful, which is responsive to the needs of the times, and adaptive to the change of times. I think I would choose to be that woman, the one who understands the problems of the Philippines, the problems of my community, so that we may be able to uplift each other. I would be that kind of woman, to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
Ika nga, she definitely blew the question out of the box!
Pagdating sa Miss Intercontinental sa Egypt, dala na ni Cinderella hindi lang ang Cagayan de Oro kundi maging ang bansang Pilipinas, iwinagayway ng kandidata ang ganda at talino ng isang Pilipina.
Narito ang winning answer ni Cinderella sa tanong na “As an international ambassador, do you believe that speaking English is important for Miss Intercontinental? Why or why not?”
“As an ambassador, I don't think that speaking a specific language is very important here in Miss Intercontinental or any pageant at all. As long as that woman is a woman of power and grace, commitment and intelligence, no matter what language she speaks and that woman is actually a woman of style and substance, then she can win any pageant or any endeavor she is into. I have learned here in Miss Intercontinental that a woman should possess the power of substance and I believe I am that woman because that is an essence of a modern day Miss Intercontinental; that we are living in a world wherein it’s very hard to survive, and as Miss Intercontinental, I would like to be that source of hope, that source of inspiration, on the true power of beauty and that is felt in the kindness of hearts and the sincerity of our loving actions. Shokran, Sharm El Sheikh!”
Sa talas ng sagot ng kandidata, nauwi nito ang ikalawang Miss Intercontinental ng Pilipinas.
Nitong 2018, si Karen Gallman ang kauna-unahang Pilipinang itinanghal sa nasabing international pageant.