The spirit of Daragang Magayon

Legaspi City , Philippines   â€” Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said there is more to beauty pageants than just the thrill of seeing local beauties compete and aim to gain honor for the localities they represent.

In the guise of a pageant, Gov. Salceda said the beauties representing various provinces in the Bicol region help Bicolanos cherish and nurture the spirit of Magayon (beauty). “With this event, we celebrate the legend of Mayon, the centerpiece of God’s creation in our environment. This celebration of Bicol beauties represents some of our ideals as a people bound by one culture and a common heritage,” he pointed out.

The first spirit of Magayon, said the governor, is an expression of collective and individual heroism.

“I like to think that heroism is innate in the Albayano as shown in the struggles of Gen. Ola, General Paua and Camil Jacob during the last war. Here we understand why by nature we like the sili (pepper). The spiciest it gets, the better they taste to us. Like it or not, they exemplify our adventurous spirit and our sense of daring even in culinary ventures. The other spirit of Magayon reflected in the Bicolanos is our love for nature and the environment. I think we Albayanos are doubly lucky because God gave us the most beautiful mountain in the whole world, the Mayon Volcano.”

The governor said that another spirit of Magayon inherent among Albayanos is in constant kindness. “This spirit helps us focus on the positive and that is the reason we are the first to respond to victims of Typhoon Yolanda through our Team Albay which has helped other provinces equally in distress, from the flood victims of Marikina to the earthquake victims of Leyte and Bohol, the typhoon victims of Davao del Sur to the cholera victims of Catanduanes. I am proud to say we are already a byword in disaster-preparedness not just in the country but in the entire world.”

The governor said another spirit of Magayon that Albayanos should nurture is determination coupled with a strong sense of strategy to help avert disasters and to respond to disaster victims the fastest way possible. “We invoke the help of God in all disasters we faced but we also do our part and not just wait for easy deliverance or what is known as ‘hulog ng langit.’”

Gov. Salceda said Albay is prepared not just in times of disasters but also during the season of beauty pageants by putting up the Albay Pageant Academy which has produced 64 beauty title-holders, the latest of whom is Yvethe Santiago who won Bb. Pilipinas Supranational. Like it or not, Albay is the Venezuela of the Philippines.”

The governor spoke during the coronation night of Miss Daragang Magayon graced by showbiz personalities in the jury, namely Lorna Tolentino, Ian Veneracion, Xian Lim and model Jon Hall, among others.

Declared Miss Daragang Magayon 2014 was Jacquelyn Bernarte of Bacacay, Albay with other Albayanos lording it over the remaining titles, namely Marvi Ann de Lima, Miss Tourism; LA Cu, Miss Almasor; Vanessa Mae Buitre, second runner-up; and Miki Santiago, first runner-up.

As it were, Mayon Volcano cannot be upstaged as it showed its naked beauty on the day after the pageant.