Was the President a lucky charm for Miss International?

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This is the second time this year that a Philippine beauty wins a title in a country that the President also happens to visit

GENTLEMAN. Aquino with Miss International 2013 Bea Rose Santiago, days before the coronation. Photo from Santiago's Instagram (@bearosesantiago)

MANILA, Philippines – The President, like the rest of the country, is just elated and proud – Bea Rose Santiago, when she took the Miss International crown on Tuesday, became the third Filipina to win a pageant this year.

But why do people say the bachelor Chief Executive could have been her lucky charm?

On December 12, less than a week before the Miss International pageant in Tokyo, Japan, Aquino met Santiago during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Japan Commemorative Summit.

Santiago posted a selfie with the President, calling him a “gentleman.”

This is the second time this year that a Philippine beauty won a title in a country that the President also happened to visit.

Shortly after Megan Young was crowned Miss World in Bali, Indonesia, Aquino traveled there for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Aquino was coincidentally in the same country as beauty queens Young and Santiago around the same time they were respectively crowned Miss World and Miss International.

“People were greeting me, ‘From Philippines, Miss World, Miss World!’” Aquino said on Wednesday, December 18. “[But] do I consider myself a lucky charm? [Ang] kapal naman ng mukha ko kung sasabihin kong I’m a lucky charm to anybody. If some people consider me a lucky charm, thank you, but I don’t think I can pronounce myself as such.”

The President commended Santiago for her victory in his speech at an event organized by the Department of Health on Wednesday. He said that, like everyone else, he was happy when he heared the news.

Aquino was hosting a dinner for US Secretary of State Secretary John Kerry while the pageant was ongoing Tuesday.

No excuse for a bachelor

The President also narrated that he received a text about a tweet by humor blogger Professional Heckler right after Santiago was crowned Miss International. He said the President has no excuse not to pick somebody for a partner because “there are lots of beautiful Filipinas.”


“Sabi ko, ‘Kasalanan pa pala ako dito?’” Aquino joked. (I told myself, “So it’s my fault?”)

Aquino has been reported to be dating a number of girls since the 2010 presidential campaign, but he has not announced any official relationship. 

Santiago’s Miss International win is the Philippines’ third major victory after Mutya Datul was crowned Miss Supranational and Young was crowned Miss World.

In a statement, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said Malacañang joins the entire nation in celebrating Santiago’s triumph.

“She is a fine exemplar of the best of Filipino womanhood: intelligent, talented, and imbued with compassion for our countrymen. As he did when they met at the gathering of the Filipino community last week, the President once again extends to our new Miss International our people’s highest compliments and best wishes,” Coloma said.  With reports from Aurea Calica/Rappler.com

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