Gazini Ganados prepares for Miss Universe questions on ‘The Bottomline’

MANILA, Philippines – Miss Universe Philippines 2019 Gazini Ganados returned to The Bottomline on Saturday, November 30, where she went through a question and answer workshop led by host Boy Abunda.

Just like Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, pageant reporters, titleholders, and fashion designers asked questions that touched on abortion, cosmetic surgery, advocacy, and pageant preparations. (READ: PH’s Miss Universe bet Gazini Ganados says abortion ‘not an option at all’)

Here are excerpts from the interview:

On what true queen mindset means for her

Gazini: True queen mindset for me means the confidence that you wear everyday. It’s something that’s not just external, it’s something that’s within your heart and the way you exude it – that positive aura that circulate among the people around you and the environment that you have, that’s having the true queen mindset. 

On which trailblazing quality she has that will make her win the Miss Universe crown

Gazini: The trailblazing quality I have I guess is being Filipino. Like being heartwarming, hospitable, and kind manners in general to everyone. And so having that with me, I will carry that being a local Filipino, a girl who grew up in a rural area in the Southern Philippines. And I will carry that in meeting everyone… the core values of being Filipino. 

On how she can advocate for change despite resistance to it

Gazini: The only constant in this world is change. And for us to be able to adapt to it, we have to emerge with it. We even have to be broken with it or bend with it to be able to merge with it. And I think that’s like a phoenix – it’s from the ashes rising from up above and just flying it out all throughout from the change that it has experienced.

On “call out” culture in social media

Gazini:  My thoughts about social media in general, it has affected a lot of lives, most especially  because it has pros and cons. The pros of it is that we can use it as an advantage of communicating with each other. But the cons of it is that there are people who are always going to try to change you, who is going to try to judge you. But it’s just a matter of knowing who you truly are deep inside. And it’s a matter of looking at it and then brushing it off you life. Because it’s not what they say that matters, it’s what you feel that matters.

On whether her advocacy for the elderly fits the Miss Universe organization and global scale

Gazini: It is still my advocacy and I will never get tired fighting for elderly care. As a person who grew up… I’m very very close to my grandparents, I’ve seen the plight of the elderly when it comes to the facilities and it’s not easy to be in that position because I myself has placed my shoes on other people, most especially my grandparents. And I wondered about it that if I were going to get old myself one day, I would not let any circumstance that will happen to me that is depreciating my dignity when it comes to being taken care of. And I would still want to still raise that in an international platform because this is a global problem and that we should face it first hand.

On the “Heartbeat Law” in Georgia and whether other countries should have an abortion law

Gazini: As a person who was raised by a conservative mother and of course a country, I guess we are not in the right position to take away a life because only God can do it. We are here to nurture a life and not to take it away.

On whether she would encourage aspiring beauty queens to undergo cosmetic surgery

Gazini: I guess everyone has a choice. If you feel confident about it, if it makes you feel beautiful, if it makes you go out there and be yourself, I think I am not against it. 

On what she thinks that will make her win and what will make her quit

Gazini: What will make me win is my true queen mindset. I know for a fact that I am not there only for myself representing Talisay City, Cebu but because I know that I have the whole Philippines supporting me as my core. And what will make me quit is none. 

– Rappler.com