●Binibining Pilipinas (Miss Philippines) is the organization that sponsors the beauty pageants held annually in the Philippines which choose the national contestants that represent the country in the annual Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International pageants, among others. ●In the past, the organization has established skills training and educational workshops for the indigents. BPCI has participated in a relief operation in Central Luzon during the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. Binibining Pilipinas past and then titleholders visited the ash-laden town of Porac, the Tent City in Pampanga, and other refugee camps, to distribute food, medicines and other basic needs to the affected residents that included ethnic tribes that lived on the volcano slopes. The annual pageant is the main source of funds. BPCI has been an official national franchise holder of the Miss Universe Organization since 1964. Stella Araneta is a former Miss Colombia, who became a Miss Universe semi-finalist and the winner of the first Miss International beauty pageant in 1960. The organization has produced two Miss Universe winners (Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Maria Margarita Moran in 1973) and three Miss International winners (Aurora Pijuan in 1970, Melanie Marquez in 1979, and Precious Lara Quigaman in 2005). The first Miss International crown for the Philippines, won by Gemma Cruz in 1964, is a product of the Miss Philippines pageant, the predecessor of the Binibining Pilipinas pageant. ●Binibining Pilipinas (Universe) From 1952 to 1963, the Miss Philippines pageant was held to select the representative of the Philippines to the Miss Universe Pageant. In 1964, Stella Marquez-Araneta started the Binibining Pilipinas Beauty Pageant after acquiring the local franchise for the Miss Universe Pageant. The current Binibining Pilipinas-Universe titleholder is Pamela Bianca Manalo. She was unplaced at the Miss Universe 2009 in Nassau, The Bahamas. Binibining Pilipinas Universe winners ●[edit] Binibining Pilipinas (World) The Philippines first sent a contestant to the Miss World pageant in 1966. From then to 1976 the Philippine representative to Miss World was chosen through the Miss RP (Miss Republic of the Philippines) pageant. In 1977, the franchise was transferred to the Mutya ng Pilipinas (Muse of the Philippines) pageant, which selected the official Philippine delegate until 1991. In 1992, the Binibining Pilipinas Charities Incorporated, acquired the local franchise to choose the Philippine representative to the Miss World Pageant. The local title was renamed to Binibining Pilipinas-World and was added to the two other major beauty titles: Bb. Pilipinas-Universe and Bb. Pilipinas-International respectively. The Philippines highest placement came in 1973 when Evangeline Pascual placed second. Pascual should have been promoted to the crown, when the 1973 winner Marjorie Wallace was dethroned, per standard procedure but she refused the title.[1] Miss World organizers stated that "Wallace had failed to fulfill the basic requirements of the job. Miss World organizers would later say that a decision was made by the Miss World organization to not offer the title to any of the runners-up. Ruffa Gutierrez placed third in 1993. Although Carlene Aguilar, was predicted to win in 2005, because she was a favorite among bookmakers, she finished as semi-finalist. ●[edit] Binibining Pilipinas (International) In 1968, the BPCI acquired the local franchise for the Miss International pageant. The following year, the title Bb. Pilipinas-International was proclaimed together with the Bb. Pilipinas-Universe in one coronation night. The current title holder of Bb. Pilipinas-International is Melody Adelheid Manuel Gersbach who placed as a semi-finalist in the 2009 Miss International pageant.

• published: 07 Mar 2010
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