How MJ Lastimosa would have answered the Top 5 Miss Universe questions

By: 10 years ago

MANILA, Philippines—She may have failed to land in the Top 5 of the 2014 Miss Universe pageant, but Mary Jean “MJ” Lastimosa on Monday was given a chance to answer the questions asked to the finalists of the pageant.

“Aquino and Abunda Tonight” host Kris Aquino quizzed the 27-year-old Cotabato beauty on how she would have answered the final questions.

Manny Pacquiao asked to Miss USA: “If you were given 30 seconds to deliver a message to a global terrorist, what would you say?”

Lastimosa: That’s perfect for me. I grew up in a war-torn area seeing some of these things happen [before my] own eyes. I would ask them, would you like these things happening to your own family? Come to think of it: These things happening to your wife, to your children. You should spend a second to think about it.

Giancarlo Stanton asked to Miss Netherlands: “What’s the biggest change you’d like to see for young women in the next generation?”

Lastimosa: I wouldn’t want to see a biggest change, but I want them to continue what the past [generations] have been fighting for…the past women. And I want them to use whatever talent and skills that they have to contribute something in the future generation.

Lisa Vanderpump asked to Miss Ukrain: “If you could remove the swimsuit competition from the Miss Universe pageant, would you? Why or why not?”

Lastimosa: I have three reasons for that. I will keep it. First, the Miss Universe started from a swimsuit competition, so that would mean taking the very essence of Miss Universe. Second would be, the body that we’re showing off wearing swimsuit shows the confidence of a woman can go in a different, you know, whatever you wear, you can still be confident? And that leads to the third reason, you know the word “fitspiration?” People get their inspiration from you. So I think, in a beaty pageant, whenever we wear [a] swimsuit, we help the society to create a healthy lifestyle.

Emilio Estefan asked to Miss Jamaica: “One of every three women will experience violence in her lifetime. What can be done to get that number down?”

Lastimosa: Still awareness and information dissemination. Always remember the 3 Ws: Teach the women the knowledge to know when they are being violated, what to do when you are a victim, and where and who to go to if you are being violated.

Rob Dyrdek asked to Miss Colombia: “Probably all the time, people have asked what men can learn from women. But I’d like to know what can women learn from men?”

Lastimosa: To be tough, because I think being a woman, we get affected by our emotions. Sometimes, they get affected with our emotions. And even in our decision-making, I think we can get a good advice from men [on] that.

Facebook question asked to all five finalists: “What is the greatest contribution of your country to the world?”

Lastimosa: I would say the heartbeat of our country—the Filipinos. We have so much talent and skills, and we share to the world. We go to different countries and work and show to them whatever we got. So the Filipinos [are our] biggest contribution to the world.

Many Filipino pageant observers were dismayed when Lastimosa did not make it to the Top 5, breaking the country’s four-year “winning streak.” IDL