We all know how Filipinos are considered a “major-major” force to reckon with in the international beauty competition scene, with our representatives and even fans always making their presence felt on and off the pageant stage. Reason why the Filipinos’ expertise on pageantry is also fast becoming an export product for the country. Foreign countries are now tapping on Filipino pageant coaches, managers and organizers to put together their own local searches for them in the hope of somehow achieving better results in international beauty derbies.
Take the case of our neighboring ASEAN country, Cambodia, whose Miss Universe delegates since 2017 have been selected and trained by a Filipino National Pageant Director. While the country has yet to penetrate the first cut of the universe’s most prestigious pulchritude Olympics, its delegates have so far been getting good notices from the global pageant community. Aside from having a Pinoy pageant director, Cambodia also sends its representatives to the Philippines for proper preparation and training. This year’s Cambodian representative, 24-year-old Manita Hang, was recently in Manila to train with the Kagandahang Flores camp for her grand appointment with the universe.
“We believe in the training here. We believe in how they make the queens in the Philippines. Training in the Philippines is very knowledgeable. I learned a lot of things, which I could not have learned on my own,” Manita told The Thrillmaker during a quick interview immediately after a rigorous training session with her Filipino mentors.
For her extended stay in the country, Manita got to stay in her national director’s condo unit somewhere in Manila and has gotten used to taking public transport to commute from her temporary residence to the camp’s training headquarters in Quezon City, and vice versa. She was accompanied by her mom, another former Miss Cambodia, who was supposed to come to Manila and compete with Miss Philippines Charlene Gonzales in the 1994 Miss Universe Pageant, if not for the restrictions imposed by their government on competing in pageants at that time. Manita acknowledges just how lucky she is to now have the chance to come to the country to finally experience the Filipino hospitality that was deprived of her mom many years back.
“I am truly thankful and blessed to experience it because coming to the Philippines, I didn’t expect that much love and warmth. I have been travelling to some provinces like Cebu, Surigao, Iligan and now, Manila, and I’ve only received love. It is very surprising to be a foreign beauty queen to get that much warmth in a foreign country.”
Aside from the Filipinos’ genuine and sincere love for beauty queens, in general, Manita must have had Filipinos appreciating her more because of her striking resemblance to the country’s first and only Miss World winner, actress Megan Young. She says: “I’ve gotten that a lot since my first pageant, actually. I am very happy because I look up to her as well.”
While Manita was scheduled to take the flight back to her country the day after we had our interview, she is planning to take a second trip back to Manila to finalize her preparations for early next year’s Miss Universe Pageant. Aside from continuing to hone her basic pageant skills, Manita’s final preps will include fitting and packing her outfits, national costume and evening gowns—all Filipino made.
Despite enjoying the love and support of Filipinos at this time, Manita is also well-aware that her countrymen also find themselves knocking heads and in a heated word war (specially online) with the passionate Pinoy fans. She has this to say about potential rivalries that may arise when the actual Miss Universe pageant season finally unfolds: “I do hope that our bond will grow beyond better in the future. However, I do know that there might be some intensity in some fans and that can be understood. I encourage everyone to have an open mind because if we are coming to train in the Philippines, that means that we are recognizing the fact that the Philippines has this good sash factor and is actually able to build queens.”
Manita plans to kick-off her Miss Universe journey—not from Cambodia, but from the Philippines.