This year’s edition of Miss Universe has come and gone with our bet Chelsea Manalo failing to make it to the Top 12. The crown went to Denmark's bet Victoria Theilvig.
However, Manalo didn’t go home empty-handed, nor did her status diminish. The nation is still proud of her for being declared Miss Universe Asia 2024.
Manalo joins the ranks of beauty queens who have done us proud. We mention here names like Gloria Diaz who won the crown in 1969, Margie Moran who did the same in 1973, Pia Wurtzbach who did the same in 2015, Catriona Gray in 2018, and Michelle Dee who made it to the Top 10 last year.
They got far because they had the right stuff. We can say that they were “qualified” for the position.
So what do beauty queens and politicians have in common? If you choose the right one, you will get the results you want, or at least be assured that there will be favorable results.
If only we were as discerning with choosing our politicians as we are when it comes to choosing our beauty queens.
When it comes to beauty contests we don’t send someone who cannot provide a substantial answer for the Q&A portion, we don’t send someone who doesn’t have a presence and, because these contests do have standards of their own for better or for worse, we don’t send someone unless she can turn heads. We send qualified beauty queens to represent us.
We should do the same with our politicians. We should elect qualified people to govern us.
We shouldn’t elect into office someone who doesn’t know how to craft the laws that will affect tens of millions of Filipinos. We shouldn’t vote those who have zero public service experience, or those who are clearly famous but have no whit of statesmanship about them.
With the election period for the 2025 midterm elections fast approaching, it’s time we determined who are qualified to lead us.