Why a pageant winner sparked backlash in the Philippines - Asia Specific podcast, BBC World Service

When it comes to beauty pageants, the Philippines is the undisputed winner? Tops in Asia, but Venezuela is right up there. You do love your beauty pageants in the Philippines, but I heard that this year's winner. for Miss Universe Philippines is causing a bit of controversy. Yes, Mariko, unfortunately, because she grew up in the United States. And there's this big question mark about Filipino authenticity in beauty pageants in the country.

There is a history of mixed race Filipinos winning. these beauty pageants, though, aren't there? So we're asking, why is the Philippines so strong in beauty pageants, and why are some winners sparking these heated debates? As always, I'm Mariko in Singapore. and this is Asia Specific from the BBC World Service. Twice a week we bring you Asia Pacific stories. unpacked by those who know them best. Some of you may remember Rico Hizon.

He was the face of the BBC in Asia for almost two decades. Two decades. Oh my God. Makes me so old. He's also a huge beauty pageant fan. Welcome back to the BBC. Oh, thank you so much for having me, Mariko. That's a secret that will be revealed in your Asia Specific podcast. Not very many people know that. I used to follow beauty pageants. since I was maybe eight or nine years old up until today.

I remember because you were watching them at work in the newsroom. In between newscasts. Exactly. Especially if it's a Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss World competition. Exactly. And this beauty pageant obsessed friend of mine has introduced me. to Ariella Ara Arida. She was crowned Miss Universe Philippines in 2013, and she's now the national director of. Miss Universe Philippines Organisation for Training and Development.

Thank you so much for coming on the pod. Mariko, hi, Rico. And of course, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. I would love to know your story, Ariella, because, I mean, let's start with how you got interested in beauty pageants. in the first place. Do you remember how old you were? And, you know, tell us about your journey until you were crowned. I grew up in an environment where it's an academe world. because my parents were both educators. So I was like, growing up, I just watched everything.

on TV, the beauty pageant, modeling. But it didn't really come into my mind that I would be doing it. I guess my interest really started during my college days. when this designer, who happened to be a friend of mine now. from the same province as mine, approached me randomly in a coffee shop. And then he was actually who asked me if I want to join beauty pageant. After a year, this same friend of mine, the designer approached me again.

If I want to join a provincial pageant. That's how it started. So he clearly wanted you to run. And I guess the different levels of beauty pageants. is what makes the country so strong. Rico, you were saying earlier how, you know, you were watching various beauty pageants in between newscasts. Is everyone in the Philippines as obsessed as you with beauty pageants?

Yeah. It's like a cultural fascination for beauty pageants. I mean, it's not only on the national level, as mentioned by Ariella, but even in universities. There's Miss University this that, even oil companies have their own beauty pageants. Travel agencies like Baron Travel, Miss Shell. It really is. It really is very, very popular. But what really got me into watching beauty pageants was.

when Margie Moran won Miss Universe in the mid 70s, she was the second Miss Universe from the Philippines. to win the competition. The first one was? Gloria Diaz in 1969. So we've already had four Miss Universe. The next one after Margie Moran was Pia Wurtzbach in 2015. and then Catriona Gray in 2018. So, I mean, there's really a lot of support. for Filipinos to join international competitions.

And there are basically four global competitions. that Filipinos really watch very closely. One, of course, is Miss Universe, where Ariella participated. Then you also have Miss International. We've also had winners there, and Miss World and Miss Earth. But what I want to know is how is the Philippines this kind. of powerhouse, especially in Asia? I mean, you said that it's in the top three, top four in the world as well. Why do you think that is, Ariella?

Because you've gone through the training, all sorts of things. that I can't even imagine what you had to do before you actually won. So can you tell us why you think the Philippines is so strong in this? My mentors, I'm actually proud to say this because he's now, he's now the owner of the Miss Universe Philippines, right? His name is Jonas Gaffud. So he's one of my mentors. And they really started as a pageant supporter, like a pageant fund that they started during their college days.

And it comes to a point they would really approach girls. and would start to train them, like for free out of their pocket even, you know, they're just students. They're really so passionate about it. What kind of training do you get, though? Because you said that they approach. those potential beauty pageant runner ups and then they get training. But what do you train to win? You know what, Mariko? Maybe I would be lucky because. during my time, the training doesn't really need.

that much financial support compared to now, as I would say. So I don't even know how to wear makeup. So I have to train how to. I really have to analyse my face, you know, like my eyes. What kind of makeup would suit my eyes, my eyebrows, the kind of hair that would really fit me, especially on stage looked. And of course, the Q and A, which is also a very important aspect of the pageantry nowadays. Right now, even international bets come to the Philippines to train.

Wow. Yes, and be mentored. By Filipino trainers. What is the secret that their training in the Philippines. that any other countries are not doing. Yeah. Well, because you know what? In terms of numbers, we are among all the top for beauty competitions. We are number three in the world. In Asia we are number one. The Philippines is number one. I mean, undisputed. I mean, there's obviously a lot of love and passion for beauty pageants,

but I learned this year there's a bit of a controversy, if I can call it that, in the winner of Miss Universe Philippines. Can you tell us about it? Well, Bea Millan-Windorski is a half Filipina. The mother is Filipina, is Filipino, and the father is an American. Is that correct? Sorry. I think it's a Polish-German. A Polish German. Okay. So that's where the controversy is right now.

Everybody wants a pure Filipina candidate to win. And there were also quite a number of. pure Filipina candidates in the Miss Universe Philippines. But when all is said and done, it really boils down. to what the judges think of the candidate. When you join a beauty pageant, it's not only the board of judges, but it's also social media. I mean, people now can vote for their favourite candidate.

Bea herself has kind of responded to these criticisms, hasn't she? Saying that she's been criticised to be an opportunist and performative, but that she's being a Filipino since she was born and that she has a home. in the Philippines where she used to visit every two to three years. So, in her words, she was lucky to grow up in two countries. There have been quite a lot of mixed race candidates, and also. And who have won. Who have won, right. Quite the number. And with Bea, am I right to understand that.

it's partly also because she spent most of her life in the United States, and she represented the US at a Miss Earth pageant. So some of the criticism seems to be that she's almost. kind of taking advantage of her Filipino roots in order to win this time. Well, there will always be criticism in social media. that we don't have a pure Filipino candidate representing the country. in the Miss Universe beauty pageant. So when all is said and done, it's about beauty and brains,

and that is really a key component in winning a major competition. Do you think though, I mean, I was reading about. how Filipinos spend a lot of money on like white skin whitening products, more so than in other parts of Asia, which obviously is an obsession elsewhere as well. But I was reading, you know, some historian, psychologist, sociologist saying that it's partly because of 300 years of Spanish rules.

that people might think that being white or being mixed. It's because, Mariko, we have this colonial mentality in the Philippines. We love anything and anything that is Western, especially in America. or even in Europe, in the UK, in Spain. And we have this fixation that because we're brown, we want to look white. That's why you have these whitening creams that are very popular.

among Filipinos because we were under the Spaniards for 330 years. So you have also mixed races. You have Filipino Spanish looking, which they call Mestizos or Mestizas, which are half Spanish and half Filipino. That's what I love about pageantry, because since, because, you know, we have a very diverse representative of Miss Universe Philippines, we have oriental looking, we have Mestiza looking. Actually, the recent one is Chelsea,

we have a brown skin representative as well. So this opens a lot of opportunities. to all the girls that they can soon represent the Philippines, no matter what colour they are or like how they look. And I guess this encourages as well the people from the provinces, even the small town, to really, you know, try joining the national pageant. Like what I've told you when I've started, I'm really not. into this kind of industry to the point that, you know what, when I asked my parents if I can join the national pageant,

you know what she told me? It's just all politics. Something like that. She really told me that, like, like, for her, I wouldn't have my chance. into it because she thought it's all politics. But then I was like... Politics as in, like, being rigged? Yeah. My mom thought it was being rigged or like, you know, especially coming from a small town, like you're not even exposed into the city or something like this. People might think it's all rigged or it's all. already pre-decided or something like that.

And then I told my mom, no, you know, just give me this one last chance. Because during my time, there's an age limit. And that was my last chance to join. What's the age limit for these pageantries? You know, during my time, it was 25. And then through the years... Has that changed now? Yeah, through the years they extended it. Like after two years, it became 28. But now, you know, during the new organisation, new owners, they actually remove the age limit.

So, I guess, you know, coming from the journey and experience. and that's what I'm telling to all the ladies now, especially the aspiring ones coming from the small towns. in the provinces that, you know what? No matter where you're from or what skin you were in. or whatever status you are in, if you chase your dream, you know, especially in Miss Universe Philippines or in pageant, it can really be possible. And I guess that's one of the fascination as well, how the pageantry in the Philippines got so big and got so crazy,

even in the smallest towns in the country. Ariella just talked about how her mother thought that the voting could be rigged. There was a controversy, wasn't there, last year? Well, you know what? In the Philippines, there's always that notion that competitions can be rigged. I'm thinking about the guy in Thailand. Wasn't there, like Miss Universe boss and? Oh, yeah, the Thai, I think the Thai pageant boss?

The recent one. Yeah, basically scolded, right? One of the international competitors. But the girl that he scolded won Miss Universe. Eventually won. Yeah. Eventually won Miss Universe. Miss universe has been quite controversial, Mariko, over the past few years, Especially it's been handed down to different owners. As you know, former, I mean, US President Donald Trump used to own. the Miss Universe international franchise. I mean, that was going to be my question because, I mean,

in recent decades, I think, you know, some feminist activists would have said, you know, you guys have been talking about how beauty pageants is. about brain and beauty. But those critics say that this is, you know, objectifying women, focusing on unrealistic beauty standards, and they're sexist and so on. Are there criticisms like that in the Philippines or not really? Not really. Not really.

I mean, there are just so many competitions right now. in the Philippines, and usually. all that criticism usually is drowned out, being sexist, objectifying. So it's not really an issue in the Philippines at the moment. What do you think, Ariella? Yeah, I would agree. And I guess because our queens are being supported, being cheered on, especially representing the international stage.

and winning the crown, they become like eventually. like a hero back home. And even the Senate or Congress would pass an appreciation for. all the queens who really made it successful abroad. So I guess those kind of criticism were all being eradicated. because we're taking it on a more positive way. Also with the experiences from the past winners,

it really opens, like even on my experience, you know, it really opens a lot of opportunities that I wouldn't think of. in the first place. Like my parents would just be surprised, and my dad, I remember he would told me like, oh, maybe if you followed us, you wouldn't be where you're at now. Financially wise, I'm earning more with what I'm doing now, more than if I continued what I've finished with my studies.

But it's just so funny, right? But then, but I guess those kind of positivity right after the pageantry. that it opens a lot of doors really for you in different aspect or, in different industries, what the, the girls are aiming for now too, sometimes, you know, the girls, I would ask them if like, what's really their goal? Why do they keep on joining pageants? You know, by just being a candidate would already make them feel. like a better version of themselves, not even winning.

And then for them, it's really a bonus to be a semifinalist. or even a finalist. And for them, it's really a dream. For them, it's really a stepping stone for them to achieve bigger dreams. And they usually, if you're just like a third runner. up or a fourth runner up and you don't win, let's say the major competition, they join other competitions. If they lose, let's say in Miss Universe, they would join Miss International or Miss World or Miss Earth. So it's like a ticket to the, I guess, the stardom and celebrity. I know,

but you know, Filipinos, they never give up. If they lose. I would say yes. They will try again. Very resilient. They know that they have a shot. But it's not an easy journey as, I would add, especially now. because with the, we have the biggest supporters, but at the same time, it's not all the positivity. that you would hear around this, right? Because there's also criticism at the back of it. So you really have to be mentally and emotionally prepared on it,

because it's not really all about all the positive things. that you would hear because it's sometimes it would take a toll. on your mental health to, as I would say. So you really, it's a both worlds. But at the end of the day, you know, girls really love to be in here. and they really work hard for this. So they're ready for it, actually. Yeah. So we'll see, I guess, the Philippines will remain Asia's powerhouse in this.

Absolutely. Without a doubt. Thank you so much for coming back, Rico. And thank you so much for coming on the pod, Ariella. Thank you too. You've been watching Asia Specific. from the BBC World Service with me, Mariko Oi in Singapore. If you have any questions or thoughts on what we covered in this episode. or any other stories from the region, please leave us a comment below. You can also get in touch with us on email asiaspecific@bbc.co.uk. and you know the drill, click like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

See you next time. Bye!