Not only that the hope of getting the third crown for the Philippines was shattered but also the four-year-top five-placement streak was ended.
MJ, when interviewed by Kris Aquino on television, nonchalantly answered the questions asked to the eventual Top 5 candidates of the 68th Miss Universe pageant. On a personal note, as expected, I was impressed with how she would have answered the questions. That awoken the once-beauty-contestant-spirit in me and made to answer the Top 5 questions myself.
Manny Pacquiao asked to Miss USA: “If you were given 30 seconds to deliver a message to a global terrorist, what would you say?”
I would tell him that I would never be in the position to judge him as to what his circumstances are. But I would let him feel that regardless of what he's gone through to make him compelled spreading terrorism, he has this inherent goodness and wisdom to make every moment an opportunity to touch anybody's heart and make a positive difference.
After all, at some point, he still goes to sleep at night or day to find peace in himself.
Emilio Estefan asked to Miss Jamaica: “One of every three women will experience violence in her lifetime. What can be done to get that number down?”
Charm. It may sound ideal, but regardless of culture and religion, it's apparent that men and women alike always regard women inferior to men. This is immortalized in the adage, "Behind every man's success or failure is a woman."
When a woman uses her charm, she knows how to position herself in a situation. Meaning, she knows when to submit, when to concur and when to maneuver. By doing this, a woman sends out a message of partnership and complementing a man and thereby eliminating conflict which often results to violence.
Lisa Vanderpump asked to Miss Ukraine: “If you could remove the swimsuit competition from the Miss Universe pageant, would you? Why or why not?”
Being beautiful is subjective. What is beautiful to me may not be beautiful to another. To define beauty we have to celebrate its form and its being. The swimsuit competition embodies its form, the gown showcases the grace, the interview its being.
We could remove the swimsuit competition but I wouldn't as removing it disproportionates the balance between the form and being. Again, these two elements are essential in celebrating beauty and its purpose.
Giancarlo Stanton asked to Miss Netherlands: “What’s the biggest change you’d like to see for young women in the next generation?”
Ï would like to see women (and men too) take time to improve their communication skills. By communication skills, I mean not just the grammar, the subject-verb-agreement, coherence among others. It's also not limited to English language either but also Filipino, Cebuano, Hiligaynon or what have you.
I believe that everybody has a good heart. But while we wanted to do or say something good, conflicts arise when what we intend to do or say gets lost in translation because the right words to use are not in our vocabulary. With an improved communication skills, we can eliminate negativity by showing humility and sincerity in what we say or do.
Rob Dyrdek asked to Miss Colombia: “Probably all the time, people have asked what men can learn from women. But I’d like to know what can women learn from men?”
For me it's the men's ability to strategize with ease. While women most of the times do things out of passion, men are more objective being able to determine early what they really want to achieve in a situation. They are more gifted with this ability to maintain balance between what is ideal and what is practical.
Facebook question asked to all five finalists: “What is the greatest contribution of your country to the world?”
While there are a lot of good things the world can associate to a Filipino wherever he goes, it's being hospitable that we are being remembered the most. Our being hospitable goes beyond making our guests or visitors comfortable and by letting them enjoy what we have to offer. Our being hospitable is characterized by letting other nationalities blend into our culture without them losing their own.
While there are a lot of good things the world can associate to a Filipino wherever he goes, it's being hospitable that we are being remembered the most. Our being hospitable goes beyond making our guests or visitors comfortable and by letting them enjoy what we have to offer. Our being hospitable is characterized by letting other nationalities blend into our culture without them losing their own.
So for me, the greatest contribution of the Philippines to the world is being able to redefine the concept of hospitality which brings about a smile in every other nationalities' face by just the mere mention of the word "Filipino
