Tarah Limjap/ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines — When the Miss FIT (Face, Intelligence, Tone) Philippines pageant presented the candidates vying for the title in its third edition, one aspirant stood out from the pack — Tarah Limjap from General Santos City.
Seldom do Filipinos see a candidate like she is in local pageants, a statuesque siren glistening with strikingly dusky complexion, and sporting a full head of Afro curls. In a sea of fair-skinned maidens with flowing long hair or loose wavy locks, it was not hard to spot her at the press presentation held at Palazzo Verde in Las Piñas City on Jan. 26.
But when she paraded solo on stage, her graceful gait matched with a strong presence showed there is even more to her than just her looks that secured her spot in the roster of candidates. And as it turns out, she is targeting something beyond the crown.
“I want to be a testament to all the young girls out there with hair and skin like mine, it is possible for us to join pageants like this, and to be confidently beautiful,” Limjap said when the Inquirer asked what she wants to achieve in the competition.
She said she joined the Miss FIT Philippines pageant because she wants people to accept her for who she is. “I grew up in a society where people like me are bullied and discriminated [against],” Limjap shared.
Organizer ProMedia said the pageant aims to promote wholistic beauty through overall wellness. The company’s CEO, Paul Izon Reyes, said at the press presentation, “we hone you to become fit to be a queen.”
Reigning Miss FIT Philippines Yllana Marie Aduana/ARMIN P. ADINA
This is the pageant’s second physical staging after its inaugural virtual edition in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pageant veteran Malka Shaver bagged the crown that year. In 2021, Yllana Marie Aduana took home the Miss FIT Philippines crown.
The 2022 edition was originally scheduled in the last quarter of last year, but ProMedia moved it to January instead. Aduana will crown her successor at the culmination of the grand coronation night at Palazzo Verde on Jan. 31. EDV