Women's Month: Embracing the full spectrum of womanhood - Miss Universe Philippines 2024
Miss Universe Philippines candidates share their insights on what it means to be a woman. They said women empowerment is not just about admiring strength, but embracing the struggle, applauding endurance and welcoming the many roles that women play.
Video and interview by Ezrah Raya
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Miss Universe Philippines candidates share their insights on what it means to be a woman. They said women empowerment is not just about admiring strength, but embracing the struggle, applauding endurance and welcoming the many roles that women play.
Video and interview by Ezrah Raya
Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe
Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net
Follow us:
Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook
Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram
Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter
DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion
Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital
Check out our Podcasts:
Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify
Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts
Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic
Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer
Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein
#TheManilaTimes
#exclusiveinterview
#missuniversephilippines
#womensmonth
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NewsTranscript
00:00 I'm Ezra Araya and this is the Manila Times.
00:03 This Women's Month will be featuring candidates from the Miss Universe Philippines pageant,
00:09 representing their respective provinces with their uniqueness, talent, and anything else beyond beauty.
00:17 After opening the competition to mothers and wives, the Miss Universe organization became more inclusive
00:23 as it removed the age restrictions across all of its associated pageants.
00:29 Now aspiring candidates over the age of 28 can participate in the competition.
00:35 Miss Universe Philippines will be held on May 11th of this year in Mall of Asia Arena
00:41 and the Miss Universe pageant will be held in Mexico.
00:45 Here with us is Miss Universe Philippines candidates, Davao Regent Miss Johanna Puyodulo,
00:53 Miss Davao City Maria Isabel Pelayo, and Miss Manila Kiana Isabel Makuha.
01:00 Such a beautiful morning. Welcome to the Manila Times once again.
01:04 Thank you so much.
01:05 Would you like to introduce yourselves, however you'd like to introduce yourself one by one?
01:11 Hi everyone. I am Kiana Isabel Makuha, representing the Pearl of the Orient Manila City.
01:19 Good morning everyone. I am Kiana Puyodulo, representing Davao Region.
01:25 I am a Davao resident.
01:27 Good morning everyone. I am Maria Isabel Pelayo, representing Davao City.
01:32 It's a beautiful morning indeed. Again, thank you so much for joining us, our Davao witnesses and a Manila citizen.
01:40 So our first question is, how are you guys preparing for the competition?
01:44 So I understand it's two months away before May 11th.
01:48 So how does one prepare physically, mentally, even psychologically for a competition like this?
01:54 Yes, there are a lot of preparations.
01:57 You know, pageants are not just pageants anymore when you just need to focus on your walk or your way of speaking in Q&A.
02:06 It's more of a holistic presentation of yourself and your city.
02:10 So there's a lot of behind the scenes going on.
02:15 Of course, physically, you have to keep that healthy body, which is all right for me because I'm already practicing a healthy lifestyle.
02:24 There's just that little push you need for that extreme physique that you see on stage.
02:30 Because you know, fun fact, all the girls are actually smaller in person.
02:35 Like they're a lot thinner in person, but you will see them in photos.
02:39 They're like, you know, a little bit with more flesh or something or certain areas.
02:44 But actually in person, they're like really slim and like, you know, fit.
02:49 So there's that to take care of.
02:51 And then mentally, of course, you have to surround yourself with people who are very good to your mental health.
02:58 You know, at this point, I'm sure the others also do this when they cut off the comments.
03:04 I don't watch the comments. That's a big no-no.
03:07 I'm not allowing people to send me comments or like screenshot and oh, this was a comment of something.
03:13 Even if it's good, I don't entertain those because you never know how it's going to hit your mental health.
03:20 And then, you know, for the rest of it, it's really just having a good support system as well.
03:27 You choose the people that you trust and then you're very just be very grateful for the people that you have.
03:33 But I think that's a really good way to prepare yourself in the other sense besides physically.
03:40 With me, since I am already a mother, my daily routine actually is like more of therapeutic.
03:51 It's like a spiritual preparation, like strengthening my faith.
03:57 Guidance also for this preparation aside from doing my daily skin routine,
04:04 which is I'm using an organic skin care products.
04:12 And then probably more of disciplining myself like sleeping at the right time,
04:20 even how busy and hectic our schedules.
04:25 And what Ms. Rhea said is also right, to surround ourselves with the right people who can equip us mentally,
04:37 emotionally, psychologically, physically, spiritually, in all aspects.
04:44 And since I am also not only a member but a volunteer in our Tanuwi Middle School community,
04:52 I also seek guidance from leaders who can also help me, guide me through this journey.
05:04 Because this is a new journey for me since this is the first time that I am joining a pageant.
05:10 That is also my new beginning for me.
05:17 And I am just so happy being surrounded with not only strong women but I feel so young, young at heart.
05:24 Even though I am a mother, I am not only a mother and I am not only with my profession at the present,
05:31 but also a role model and an inspiration to us.
05:35 That's very inspiring, Ms. Joy.
05:37 So recently, the Miss Universe organization now is very forward-thinking, especially with our new group.
05:46 They removed the marital status limits as well as the parental limits and most recently the age limit.
05:53 And it's very interesting because I love how you, at the same time, while joining this prestigious pageant,
06:01 I love how you never forgot your first role as a mother.
06:05 So may I ask, are you married as well? And how many kids do you have?
06:09 I am a single mother. With my eldest son, he was very supportive.
06:16 In fact, he gave me an assurance that, "Nanay, I don't want to take good care of my little sister. Do not worry."
06:23 And then with my second child, who is very clingy and very emotional and empathic, also like me.
06:31 What pushed you to join the Miss Universe pageant? 39 years old with two kids.
06:36 Probably because of the experiences that I've had in the past.
06:40 I mean, I am not just limiting myself of being a mother, but also a nurturing mother, an enduring mother,
06:50 a mother who is resilient with all the setbacks that I faced in the past.
06:56 So probably just giving an inspiration also to my co-mothers or my fellow mothers.
07:02 That opportunity just comes once. And once it's there, of course, I am that kind of person that I am always open to any invitations being involved.
07:16 And also probably experiencing this also in a new venue.
07:25 I mean, far from what I am doing as a fashion model in Navajo and also accepting food orders as my sideline
07:36 and helping my mother who is taking good care also of my paralytic father.
07:43 Thank you for that, Miss Johanna. Very inspiring indeed, as a mom myself.
07:49 So, all right, let's move on to Miss Kiana speaking of single mothers, because she is also an advocate of single mothers.
08:00 Right, Kiana? So how are you preparing for the competition so far?
08:06 I have been training with my camp, Aces and Queens.
08:11 And it has been really nice because they teach us not just Pasarela in Q&A, but then they also teach us personality development.
08:23 They teach us how to handle with media and also actually how to handle our emotions towards becoming a beauty queen.
08:32 Also, of course, you need to be prepared mentally, physically and with everything.
08:39 And aside from that, I agree with the two other girls because you really need a support system,
08:45 especially in times like this, because this is a very big pageant.
08:49 And of course, the spotlight is on you.
08:52 So, it's inevitable that there would be comments from other people that, like Rhea said,
09:02 you need to filter out because it will really affect your mental health.
09:06 And that's what happened to me actually during the press presentation.
09:10 And after that, I said, "I'll make mawe talaga."
09:13 And after that, I've been very meticulous about what I put out and how I present myself.
09:19 So my next question will be, what are the advocacies you're pushing for in the Miss Universe Philippines pageant?
09:27 My main advocacy is empowering women, single mothers, through emotional communal support.
09:35 Because I grew up with a single mother.
09:37 May support system talaga ever since.
09:40 And it's just been the two of us ever since.
09:43 Kasi yung two other siblings ko, they are very young pa.
09:48 So ever since, it was just me and my mom.
09:51 It is to raise awareness.
09:54 Kasi pag single mother ka, syempre diba, you would say that you're alone.
09:59 Kasi wala kang husband, ganyan.
10:01 But it's really about the goal of providing the emotional need of support on a regular basis.
10:08 And it's actually acknowledging na, it is us children and family members that are their main and primary support system.
10:17 And we should not neglect our role as such.
10:21 And I also advocate for empowering women through team sports.
10:28 Because I am an athlete and my sports right now is wakeboarding and flag football, which are very male-dominated sports.
10:40 So it feels, for me, it feels very empowering to conquer certain sports like these as a woman.
10:48 And lastly, it is for Alzheimer's awareness because my lola was very dear to me.
10:58 And it was late na when we found out that she had Alzheimer's.
11:02 And it is something that we must see through agad.
11:08 Because there are really late signs of Alzheimer's that you wouldn't really see agad-agad.
11:14 And it's really best to, nagulat na lang po kami na kinabukasan, my lola couldn't figure out our names.
11:22 And it was really heartbreaking po talaga.
11:26 And as she progressed through her age, mas bumata po yung pag-iisip niya, which was really heartbreaking for me.
11:34 So I really want to advocate for that, that people, if you see early signs, you should check.
11:41 So you would know how to handle them and how to handle the situation more properly po.
11:47 I didn't feel you were speaking from experience.
11:49 I'm very touched by what you said, being raised by a single mother.
11:55 And I understand your advocacy is about breaking barriers, as we say.
12:01 Thank you so much, Kiana, for sharing that with us.
12:04 And now, let's go to Miss Johanna.
12:09 My advocacy is to really stand and be the voice to those who are victims of violence, especially women and children.
12:20 It is really very important to have that voice and to stand for them.
12:26 And also an awareness to these victims voiceless with my presence, of course, to instill this women or children and victims,
12:41 especially young generation, to not only to lose hope, but to thrive, to work, to have that balance work and life.
12:54 And also at the same time to have the ability to listen to them, to their needs.
13:01 And because there are resources like therapies with my advocacy to really stand, to also fight back that victims are not only victims and survivors are not only survivors.
13:15 They are survivors without resentment and also not only without resentment, but with good intent to really rise up again.
13:28 Because other than resources, life is so beautiful and you just live day by day.
13:38 And of course, it is a difficult but with this advocacy, with this awareness that we have, we can forgive but not condone the wrongdoings.
13:48 Thank you so much for sharing that, Miss Johanna.
13:52 My advocacy started when I was in the local pageant, the Buti ng Dabaw.
13:57 I started with advocating for a healthy lifestyle because health is really important and you know, you have to take care of yourself.
14:07 It's the entire theme of my life, taking care of yourself so you can take care of others.
14:12 So I started with that advocacy, telling others to have an active lifestyle because in our family as well, there are a lot with high blood, you know, those kinds of illnesses that you get from a lifestyle that isn't very healthy.
14:29 But anyways, from an healthy lifestyle, I was an aerialist, you know, I'm an aerialist.
14:36 So I also am very adventurous. I found ways to have an active, healthy lifestyle in different ways.
14:44 And that's exactly why me and Isabel bonded for a bit because she's also very adventurous.
14:49 And then we were talking about what we wanted to do.
14:53 And from that on, from having an active lifestyle, I discovered hiking. So I fell in love with hiking.
15:00 And then while being in the hiking, you know, while being in hiking, I really appreciated being around nature.
15:08 I can't stress this enough. You have to experience it for you to understand.
15:12 But it's really very refreshing being around nature and all.
15:17 Fun fact, I went up Mount Apple, so I reached the highest peak in the Philippines.
15:23 And in that journey, imagine three days just being surrounded with nature.
15:27 I really appreciated how blessed we are with natural resources.
15:33 And so when I went into the Miss Universe Philippines, I was thinking of what is it that I truly advocate in Davao that I could bring to the entire Philippines?
15:46 And I worked with a foundation, shout out to Egypt Foundation.
15:51 Their process is we have to hike up a mountain and then you plant a tree and then you engage with the community there.
16:02 Because Davao is actually filled with a lot of tribes.
16:06 We have 11 tribes and then a big portion of our city are ancestral domains.
16:12 So these tribes live in those ancestral domains.
16:17 And though some parts of those domains before were not really taken care of, and that made those tribes suffer a bit.
16:26 But good thing there are these foundations and also efforts from the city themselves that they're trying to preserve the area where the tribes live in.
16:37 Because, you know, these tribes are our identity and their identity is tied to those lands.
16:43 So they preserved it. And I'm so happy that we really saw, we see the change in the environment before there were these barren, super brown areas.
16:53 And now they're really green. I went there a lot of times, actually.
16:58 I've been there a lot of times and it gets so much more beautiful every time.
17:02 And yeah, so I'm advocating for the preservation of natural resources for our indigenous people, because again, these people, they carry our identity.
17:13 We must take care of our, of their lands as well.
17:17 And not just that, I remember being told by the head of Egypt Foundation, Ma'am Selina, shout out again,
17:25 because they're really very supportive in my obsession with tree planting and hiking.
17:30 OK, so he told me, if you're going to advocate for something, put the environment in it.
17:38 Because if you think about it, you want to advocate for mothers and all, but if disasters come, who are we going to advocate for?
17:49 And when our environment comes against us, comes against our mothers, how else do we take care of them, right?
17:59 Or our children or anyone else? So put the environment in it.
18:04 And that really, I would really agree with that. So I think I was very digressing.
18:10 So first I advocated for an active lifestyle, which led me to falling in love with nature.
18:16 And now I advocate for preservation of our natural resources for the benefit of, of course, our cultural groups, ethno-linguistic tribes.
18:26 And why I thought of this as well to bring to the Miss Universe Philippines stage is because this is something that Davao is able to do.
18:34 And the Philippines is filled with a lot of culture and natural resources.
18:39 And it fits perfectly that if we can bring this from Davao to the Philippines, it would just be majestic.
18:45 And of course, it's one thing to take care of the people who are close to you.
18:50 You know, it's one thing to take care of your family, your friends.
18:53 It's another to take care of people that are nearly strangers, but of the same place as you.
18:59 Wonderful advocacy, climate resiliency, environmental conservation, and advocating for the indigenous people.
19:07 So this month, March, we're celebrating Women's Month, but really, today should be Women's Day.
19:15 But what does it mean for you as an individual?
19:20 Women's Month for me, it really signifies a day of celebration of all the achievements of women globally.
19:30 And it is also an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made in gender equality, empowerment, and women's rights, and gender equality and everything.
19:44 And I believe that it is a collective work that still needs to be done to refocus and strengthen our resolve advances in many issues that still affects us women today.
19:57 It's really just a celebration of us as a united society, as a united front.
20:06 Women's Month for me is like a day off. A day off for all women.
20:14 Not only strong women, but enduring women, women warriors, women of faith, women of virtues, women of values.
20:26 I mean, what is one month, what is 30 days as compared to the endless work, hard work of the women for the community and the society?
20:39 And as well as women who are mothers, women who are elders, women who are migrant workers who really take their energy, their time, and their effort, and their endless love, their unconditional love for their family,
20:58 physically strong or economically rich, but of course it all boils down to having that balance and alignment and probably the acceptance, self-acceptance, and the growth,
21:19 and of course the healing also of all women globally around the universe.
21:27 Because of course, not to be biased with men, but of course women, because they are giving birth like mothers,
21:40 you give birth to a life and then you raise that life being a good person in the future. So I mean, one month is actually not enough for women,
22:01 to the elders, for women. But for me, it's really a celebration of life, a beautiful life, because it's a gift from God.
22:14 Women's month or Women's Day, it is a month, I'm happy, is actually more of a validation of the struggles of a woman.
22:23 See, women already have their power within themselves, and when we say empowering women, it's letting them know, or tapping them, "Hey, this is your power and all."
22:36 But the thing is, the tendency when we keep on empowering women, "Women are so strong, women are like this," we sort of, in some ways, make them feel like,
22:48 "Yes, I'm strong, I'm not allowed anymore to feel this struggle and all." And for me, for Women's Month, it's actually more of a validation of that struggle.
23:01 I go through this, we go through childbirth, we go through that 50/50 life chance, we go through nurturing our children, we go through, even just in our families,
23:13 we go through taking care of our parents, we go through taking care of our siblings, and that's not something that's easy.
23:21 So, strength of a woman is not something that is just given, like, "Oh, you're strong, you know, woman."
23:27 No, it's something that you earn on the way of that struggle, you know? And I think that's really what Women's Month is about.
23:36 You know, we have women, great women, they've achieved this, they've achieved that, but people forget that they also went through a lot just to get there.
23:45 And for me, that's really the importance of Women's Month, that we women, although we were, you know, dominated over by other gender, other sex, you know,
23:58 it's not something that we should, like, unacknowledge, or like they say, we fight against.
24:06 Yes, we were under, we were dominated over, but we're still strong in our own ways.
24:12 Once again, Miss Universe Philippines candidates, Miss Davao City, Maria Isabel Pelayo, Miss Davao Region, Johanna Puyo Dyulo, and of course, Miss Manila, Kiana Isabel Makuha.
24:27 Thank you so much for joining us.
24:29 [No audio]