Two Cebu beauty queens named Bb. Pilipinas 2009 official candidates

Among the hundreds of hopefuls from all over the country, two beauties from Cebu have made the roster of 25 official candidates to compete in this year's staging of the biggest beauty pageant in the country, the Binibining Pilipinas.

Models Association of Cebu (MAC) models and beauty titlists, Miss Cebu 2006 Stephanie Rose Basubas Señires and Miss Cebu 2008 runner-up Mai Sy Honorio made the cut from among 170 re-called hopefuls for the Bb. Pilipinas slots.  

According to their handler, Valeriano Tomol III, Señires and Honorio went to Manila for the screening last January 27, 2009. They were interviewed for a while and made to pass their resumes since there were a lot of applicants from all over the country.

The final screening happened only last Monday, with the official results released two days after. The formal announcement of the 25 official candidates will be made today by the organizing group, Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc., headed by Stella Marquez Araneta.

Señires and Honorio will vie for any of the three major titles at stake-Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, Bb. Pilipinas-World, and Bb. Pilipinas-International-to be able to compete in international pageant derbies. 

The inclusion of Señires and Honorio is sure to merit high expectations given the impressive track record of MAC models in Bb. Pilipinas in the past five years that MAC has joined its screenings.

Ramp favorite Melanie Ediza was a runner-up at the Bb. Pilipinas 2005, while model-TV host Anna Maris Igpit was named Bb. Pilipinas-World 2006. Karla Bautista, who is now an international flight attendant, emerged triumphant at the Miss World 2004 beauty pageant by reaching Top 5. She was also proclaimed Queen of Asia and Oceania.

Tomol revealed to The FREEMAN yesterday that he had been encouraging Señires to enter the pageant after her successful stint in Miss Cebu 2006, but she chose to leave for the United States to work after graduating from the University of San Carlos with a degree in Psychology (summa cum laude). 

In October of last year, Señires finally told Tomol that she's ready to join the prestigious search. As part of her preparations, Tomol said she underwent some aesthetic enhancement. Señires will officially represent Cebu City.

On the other hand, Tomol decided to field Honorio in this year's Bb. Pilipinas for her eagerness and professionalism, which he believes are the true qualities of a beauty queen. The 21-year-old Nursing graduate will officially represent Maasin City.

While there's no telling yet of how high are their chances, Tomol revealed that both beauties, who underwent "advanced behavorial training" under fellow MAC model agent Roger Alferez, have already made an initial good impression for being professional and on-time for the screenings and other activities. Tomol further said that the screening committee also suggested some pointers for the two ladies.

Tomol said that Señires, who is 5'6 tall with vital statistics of 33-25-34, was advised to work more on her posture. "Sometimes Steph, off-stage, has the tendency to slouch and really dress down. But I'm very confident in Steph's ramp skills."

On the other hand, Honorio, who stands at 5'6 with vital stats of 34-24-35, was advised to put on some more make-up because she has such a youthful face that she was initially thought of as only 17 years old.

Both Señires and Honorio will be facing tough competition in a field that include top models and TV personalities such as Bb. Pilipinas returnee and occasional actress Abby Cruz, "SOP" regular and "StarStruck" discovery from Bohol, Rich Asuncion, to name a few.

Tomol said, "They (Señires and Honorio) have expressed nervousness because of the many mestizas among the finalists, but I told them to bank on the fact that in the past, Bb. Pilipinas have always preferred morena beauties to win the titles."