CEBU, Philippines - The reigning Sinulog Festival Queen and a Miss World Philippines 2014 finalist will aim for a seven-peat for Cebu in this year’s Reyna ng Aliwan pageant.
A highlight in the annual Aliwan Festival held in April and spearheaded by the Manila Broadcasting Company, the pageant has been won by Cebu delegates for the past six years, led by Sian Elizabeth Maynard (2009), followed by Rizzini Gomez (2010), Rogelie Catacutan (2011), Angeli Dione Gomez (2012), Jamie Herrell (2013) and Steffi Rose Aberasturi (2014).
The two Gomezes, Catacutan and Herrell later on bagged prestigious national and international pageant crowns after their reigns as Reyna ng Aliwan.
Next month, waving the banner for Cebu City’s Sinulog Festival is Julienne Hazel Penserga, a third year Mass Communication student of the University of the Philippines and the reigning Miss UP Cebu.
Representing Placer, Masbate’s Tribu Himag-ulaw just this January, Penserga bested 15 other lead dancers to win the Sinulog Festival Queen 2015 title. She was also named Best Solo Performer, Best in Festival Costume, and Best in Runway second runner-up.
Cebu’s second rep will be Fil-German Gazini Christiana Ganados for Bantayan Island’s Palawod Festival. This Tourism major from Cebu Normal Univerity is best known for being a semi-finalist in last year’s Miss World Philippines pageant, won by Valerie Weigmann.
Ganados will follow the lead of last year’s Palawod Festival bet, Maria Gigante, who was selected to be among three second runner-up finishers.