Neophytes in the beauty contest world ruled the Pride of the Philippines Grand Coronation night on Saturday at the Shaikh Rashid Auditorium, The Indian High School, Dubai.
Half Lebanese Lamis Al Sayed snatched the Pride of the Philippines Queen title while Nino Paulo Perena, a registered nurse from Batangas, was proclaimed King.
“This is the first time for me to join a beauty pageant I’m honestly more of an athlete than a beauty queen, but we can strive to be capable of doing more than one thing,” shared 23-year-old Al Sayed in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!.
Perena, for his part, says he was only encouraged by a friend to join the contest. “I think my consistency in performance, the way I carried myself and my attitude made me win,” he said.
The Pride of the Philippines was a showcase of beauty, wit and talent among Filipino expatriates in the UAE.
The 24 contestants (12 women and 12 men) competed in different categories on Saturday evening. The candidates strut the catwalk with their festival creative attire, showcasing the different festivals in the Philippines like Sinulog, Kadawayan and Pahiyas. The costumes were designed by UAE-based Filipino designers. The other categories were street casual wear, summer and formal wear where the contestants donned a barong Tagalog (embroidered formal shirt and considered the national dress of the Philippines) for men and the Terno (a one-piece long dress with butterfly sleeves and considered as the Philippine traditional dress) for women. During the pre-pageant, the contestants also showcased their talents.
“My next step representing the Philippines is definitely to be of aid in all Filipino community service activities and outreach programs that concern both my country and the UAE of course,” said Al Sayed, who works as an administrative assistant. “If granted the chance to truly show my appreciation on winning this title, I would love to meet the Filipino youth here in the UAE and have conversations with them about social networks and the influence of social media.”
She added: “As of now the activities have yet to be discussed with me, but I assure you I am truly honoured and fully on-board in taking this new journey as Queen of the Philippines 2017.”
Perena, who works as a nurse educator in Dubai, says he is savouring the moment. “You must be confident,” he says. “Attitude can make you win.”
Al Sayed echoed Perena’s formula for success. “Among the many lessons that I learnt joining this pageant is to have the courage to be your true self,” he said. “[You should also be] disciplined with time management and, of course, always remain humble.”
