But more so, the Biology student from Cebu Doctor’s University clinched the crown when she displayed her humble yet giving heart in answering the final question which was what her priority project will be during the first 100 days if she were to be elected as the third lady president of the country.
Cool, calm and collected in spite of the nerves that expectedly raged in each and every one of the five finalists, she said, “My first agenda would be for the street children. My family and I are practicing a lot of community activities. This is the first thing that I would do because as we all know, this is the one thing that we always see every day. Having feeding programs cannot help them completely but at least, somehow, I made a difference in their lives.”
Namrata’s court was composed of first runner-up, Therese Llamada, a nursing student from the University of Cebu; second runner-up, Maria Gigante, a philosophy student from the University of San Carlos; third runner-up, Patricia Estuart, an interior designer, and fourth runner-up, Kapamilya Star of the Night and crowd favorite, Ely Rose Angcon.
Also given special awards were Jehanne Dy, who was named as the Miss Friendship while Miss Photogenic belonged to Marivee Velasquez.
The show, which is considered to be one of the highlights of the annual Sinulog Festival celebration, was a smashing success, filled with awe-inspiring performances from performers from Resorts World Manila such as Primo, the thrilling acrobats from the Edge of Glory and The King and I’s Bo Cerrudo and Sheila Valderrama along with Cebuana singer, Victoria Ingram, who belted out a medley of Adele hits. The show was hosted by Miss Earth 2008, Karla Henry and Mr. World 2012 runner-up, Andrew Wolff with spot appearances by former Miss Cebu winners such as Reena Elena Malinao and Mia Zeeba Ali Faridoon.
Also recognized for their achievements in other international pageants were two former Miss Cebu winners in Vanessa Ammann and Rizzini Gomez. Vanessa, the Miss Cebu 2011 second runner-up, became the 2012 Miss World Philippines Second Princess while Rizzini recently became the 2012 Miss Tourism International.
Arguably, the most interesting part of the program was the casual question and answer portion. Beforehand, the contestants were tasked to write down questions which were then put in a bowl for their fellow contestants to pick later on in the evening. Curiously, the questions ended up being anything but casual.
One was asked about the divorce law which Mary Goyenechea answered, “We cannot let two people who aren’t in love with one another to stay together.” Jehanne was also questioned which celebrity she would bring to her dinner party and she quipped, “Oprah, because she has made every woman proud.” Namrata was also quizzed about which sector of tourism she would improve and she recognized the need to care for nature in saying, “Green tourism.”
Patricia was asked how she would react if she woke up one day and was 20 years older. She steadily answered, “I’d still be young at heart.” Maria was also put on the spot when she was asked if it were women’s fault if they became objects that were desired by men. Without batting an eyelash, she said, “No. Can a woman be blamed if we were beautiful?”
The judges tasked to pick the winner were Ray Fung of Asia Miles, Noli Hernandez of Megaworld, interior designer, Cynthia Almario; fashion designer, JC Buendia and PLDT Community Relations Head, Evelyn del Rosario.
Jonas Rey N. Panerio
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