Binibining Pilipinas candidates #30 Trisha Martinez (Pila, Laguna); #39 Flordeliz Mabao (Rizal); #36 Samantha Acosta (Bulacan); #4 Shaira Rona (Mandaluyong); #14 Vienne Feucht (Calamba, Laguna); #26 Phoebe Godinez (Lapu-Lapu City); and, #34 Vera Dickinson (Tarlac). Images from Armin P. Adina
By: Armin P. Adina
The Binibining Pilipinas pageant is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and seasoned aspirants have enlisted for a chance to be included in the elite roster of queens, among them are returnees and those who have already claimed titles in other competitions.
Trisha Martinez from Pila, Laguna, and Shaira Rona from Mandaluyong have returned to give another shot at finally becoming Bb. Pilipinas queens, while Bulacan’s Samantha Acosta has crossed over from the Miss Philippines Earth pageant.
Also joining the national pageant’s milestone edition is Rizal’s Flordeliz Mabao, who was crowned Miss Scuba Philippines in 2019, and finished third in the 2019 Miss Scuba international pageant. Tarlac’s Vera Dickinson, meanwhile, was second runner-up in the 2022 Miss Aura Philippines pageant.
Representing Lapu-Lapu City in the 2024 Bb. Pilipinas pageant is 2022 Hiyas ng Pilipinas Tourism Queen International Phoebe Godinez, while Calamba, Laguna, is fielding 2023 Miss Rotary and 2021 Miss Bikini Philippines first runner-up Vienne Feucht.
Martinez has some unfinished business to settle. She was already supposed to represent the country in an international competition after earning the Miss Philippines Tourism crown in the 2021 Miss World Philippines pageant, but her global tilt did not push through. She inched closer to another opportunity to raise the Philippine flag abroad when she cracked the Top 11 in the 2023 Bb. Pilipinas pageant, where she was also “Best in Evening Gown.”
“All beauty queens dream of representing the Philippines internationally. So that’s why I’m here. I’m trying my luck. I’m trying, hoping I’d be destined to be able to represent the Philippines in an international stage,” she told INQUIRER.net in an interview.
For Mabao, Binibining Pilipinas is the reason she got into pageantry in the first place. “Ten years ago, before my mother passed because of breast cancer, she told me that she wanted me to join Bb. Pilipinas. So that’s why I started joining beauty pageants. And finally, here, after 10 years, I’m in Bb. Pilipinas,” she said.
Acosta, meanwhile, said she resonated with the national pageant’s thrust. “I’ve always had the heart towards children, and I’m very much happy that BPCI’s (Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc.) vision is the same as my advocacy, Harvesting HOPE (Helping Others Pursue Empowerment). And I’m really looking forward to more of our charity events with Binibini,” she said.
Two winners will be crowned and will be proclaimed Bb. Pilipinas International and Bb. Pilipinas Globe, and they will take home P1 million each, and earn the right to represent the Philippines in the 63rd Miss International pageant next year, and The Miss Globe 2024 contest later this year.
The 60th Binibining Pilipinas Grand Coronation Night will be held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum at the Araneta City in Quezon City on July 7, Sunday. Phenomenal P-Pop boy group SB19 will return to the pageant stage, with Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano also set to perform.
And like in the last three editions, an all-female hosting team will handle the ceremonies this year, and will be composed of 2014 Bb. Pilipinas Universe MJ Lastimosa, 2016 Miss Grand International first runner-up Nicole Cordoves, 2016 Miss International Kylie Verzosa, and 2018 Miss Universe Catriona Gray.
The four Binibining Pilipinas queens will also be joined by more than a hundred of their Binibini sisters for a grand reunion of queens on stage, the magnitude never before seen on any pageant here or anywhere else.
