We all know that Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, Bb. Pilipinas International 2014 Bianca Guidotti and Mutya ng Pilipinas (and former Binibini) have become very close friends ever since their active years participating in beauty pageants. During this quarantine period, the trio hatched the idea of coming up with a podcast that turned into a live chat with their equally beautiful guests. Below are two of the episodes where they separately invited Vickie Rushton and Alaiza Malinao in the discussion.
Enjoy watching!
This blog entry will read like a throwback within a throwback. Just like Binibining Pilipinas, Mutya ng Pilipinas has already reached its Golden Anniversary last 2018 – fairly more recent but still full of pride and glory. For a national pageant to successfully make it through five decades is an achievement that stood the test of time. And its long list of titleholders and international winners gave their share to the country’s performance record in other beauty competitions – prime of which were Miss Asia Quest-turned- Miss Asia Pacific Quest-turned-Miss Asia Pacific International, Miss Tourism International and during selected periods – Miss World, Miss Intercontinental, Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International, Miss Tourism Metropolitan International, Queen of Clubs International and Best Model of the World.
And just to complete the throwback, allow me to share the grand opening number and crowning moments of the 50th Mutya ng Pilipinas held at the Mall of Asia Arena last September, 2018. This was a monumental effort spearheaded by then President Hemilyn Escudero-Tamayo (right photo with Joy Arguil and I) who pulled out all the stops to make the production her farewell legacy for the pageant institution.
First on the list is Sherry Anne Tormes who was part of Bb. Pilipinas twice in the past. Originally, though, she was part of a previous edition of MPE. This is like her return to the competition that could bring her the crowning glory she has been aiming for.
And then we have Patrixia Sherly Santos whose pageant career brought instant recall to the “x” in her first name. She was also a Binibini in the past, aside from taking part in Miss World Philippines, Ambassadress of the World Philippines and the Redvocates Search for AIDS Ambassadors in the country.
Gianna Margarita Llanes was an Official Candidate of Miss World Philippines two years back. Her national pageantry experience brought the confidence in joining other smaller tilts where she was able to shine more strongly. In particular, she made it as 1st Runner-Up during Miss Mandaluyong 2019. 
Roxie Baeyens may be the youngest among the six, but she is the one who has already represented the country in an international beauty competition. She emerged 1st Runner-Up during Miss Tourism and Culture Universe 2019 after being named Face of Tourism 2019. She is from Baguio City.
Justiene Ortega is one lady who was able to juggle time between her pageant conquests and gainful employment. It does help when the field of work is in sales and marketing. She was a contender in past stagings of both Miss World Philippines and Miss Tourism Philippines.
Finally, we have Hannah Bithiah Merino – a proud Lagunense who worked as Flight Attendant of Philippine Airlines. This tall lady was crowned Mutya ng Pilipinas Calabarzon before qualifying as one of the fifty lovelies who made the Golden Edition of Mutya ng Pilipinas more colorful. 
Five (5) interesting “Did-You-Know” specifics about your #Binibini19 Ilene Astrid de Vera:
The 50-year old beauty organization – Mutya ng Pilipinas – announces its new management led by media celebrity and women empowerment advocate Cory Quirino as its President.
This could already be old news for some. In fact, the talks about the new President of Mutya ng Pilipinas has been streaming along pageant circles for quite some time now. Only the formality of it all is being awaited. The grand announcement should happen by March 27 at the Ascott Makati. 
And she has finally started the journey to becoming a Binibini!
