(L-R) Merry Joyce Respicio, Valiry Vispo, Mercegrace Raquel and Amanda Navasero. (Photo credit: OPMB Worldwide)
Here’s another set of ladies who met the supposed deadline of Bb. Pilipinas 2013 yesterday:
Merry Joyce Respicio, 18, from Bulacan and the reigning Reyna ng Bulacan. She’s 5’11″ and already featured here in an earlier post.
Vanya Valiry Vispo, 24, from Pasig City and a candidate in last year’s Miss World Philippines. She stands 5’10″.
Mercegrace Raquel is Bb. Nueva Ecija 2012. She’s the 19 year-old math whiz studying at UP Los Banos. At 5’9″, she is one of the JDV bets together with Merry Joyce and Valiry.
Amanda Navasero, 21, and a Tourism student from Benilde. She is related to popular photographer Mandy Navasero. Her height is just a shade under 5’6″. Watch out for her solo feature in the coming days.
More to come! 
Valiry and Merce…where do I even begin? They’re not stunning….There, I said it. I refuse to pander to other readers by saying they are. They’re not. To begin with, their make-up is so harsh. And I don’t mean heavy. It’s applied the wrong way, especially on Valiry. The eyebrows are too dark and pronnounced. The heavy upper eyelid line and the light eye shadow made her eyelids look puffy and heavy. The foundation on both look orange which looks worse on Merce because of her dress color and it’s not just in the picture above. However, given the facial structure, I’m not sure the right make-up tricks would help much. And to top it all, they each have an anoyying overbite.
Stunning beauties? No. Miss Universe Paraguay 2012 Egni Eckert is a stunning beauty. She did not even make it as a top finalist in MU 2012. Imagine sending Valiry or Merce. But they’re quite ethnic, I’ll give you that.
I agree with your thoughts on their make-up. It borders on the theatrical and obscures rather than enhances. Merce and Valiry’s styling can be improved. But although they may not conform to European or Latin aesthetics, as Asian candidates they can be competitive.
Mercegrace Raquel appears to have it all — exotically beautiful and tall (5’9″) and a Math & Sciences major running for cum laude at one of the Philippines’ top universities. Isn’t she the archetype that Madam wants? And I’ll go out on a limb and predict a top 5 finish for her — if not a title, then a runner-up position — then watch her pull one of the major titles in 2014 like Janine did.
Valiry Vespo warrants more than a second look. I just realized she made it as one of the 12 semifinalists at MWP last year (not bad). Her make-up in the above photo, however, looks a little harsh and obscures rather than enhances her otherwise naturally beautiful features. But at 5’10″ and with that body, I’m sure she’ll pass the screening very easily. Count her in.
Merry Joyce Respicio at only 18 — perhaps the youngest — and one of the tallest (5’11″) she definitely has the most potential of this group. She also appears to be very motivated (see the braces?). And even if she doesn’t win one of the national titles this year — it’s going to be a tough competition — I hope she’ll use her pageant experience as a stepping stone to one of the Philippines’ major national titles in the near future. She has the luxury of the next four years (which most other girls don’t have) to do just that.
Merry Joyce is a stunner, but something is wrong with her nose!
Basil — Not sure what you mean about her nose. It’s distinctly Asian but I think it’s fine. But as a good friend of mine who happens to be an excellent cosmetic surgeon always says to his potential clients — “ah, you look fine, but there’s always room for improvement” — as he gives them his business card with a wink. And come to think of it — after seeing his “before and after” portfolio — he’s almost always right!
pass.
Wondering about Monika and JeaAnn… more photobombs pls at bpci. luurve it.
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Via MebApp.com
Among the four, Mercegrace Raquel definitely leads, with Merry Joyce Respicio a close second. The 2013 batch is a truly impressive group and I can’t wait to see how the pageant unfolds.