Bb. Pilipinas International Angelica Lopez. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P. Adina
MANILA, Philippines—Angelica Lopez was visibly surprised when she was proclaimed 2023 Binibining Pilipinas International on May 28. And many others appeared to have also not expected her to receive that particular title. But no less that the head director of the organization that mounts the Miss International pageant was impressed with the new queen’s performance.
“Angelica was trying to win the Bb. Pilipinas crown. She made a mark. She was memorable,” said International Cultural Association (ICA) Head Director Stephen Diaz in a tweet. He witnessed Lopez’s ascent to the throne at the 2023 Bb. Pilipinas Grand Coronation Night held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum at the Araneta City in Quezon City.
While many in the pageant community celebrated Lopez’s victory, not a few followers shared their observation that she may not fit the international pageant’s archetype. The new queen revealed in an interview after her coronation that people around her had told her before that she would be a better fit for the Miss Globe pageant.
As a dusky beauty who gave a feisty performance on the Bb. Pilipinas stage, Lopez was indeed a huge departure from the fair-skinned ladies who have captured the title before whose performances were relatively more subdued than hers—Mariel De Leon, Ahtisa Manalo, Bea Patricia Magtanong, Hannah Arnold and Nicole Borromeo.
“The judges loved her and she succeeded. Miss International for her will be next year. She was not performing to win [the Miss International] crown last Sunday. She was performing to win a Bb. Pilipinas title,” shared Diaz, who accompanied reigning Miss International Jasmin Selberg in the Philippines. The global queen also sat in the national contest’s judging panel.
Borromeo, who won the national title in 2022, will represent the Philippines in this year’s Miss International pageant, its 61st edition, to be held at the Yoyogi Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 26. “We’re actually working on a better production this year,” Diaz told the Inquirer in an interview.
He also sought to dispel another “misconception” about the global tilt in a separate tweet. “Come to Yoyogi Gymnasium this October and I encourage everyone to make some noise, and boost your delegate’s confidence! People say [Miss International] is boring because the audience are silent. We never said NOT to make noise. Your presumptions are wrong,” he said.
He, however, hinted to the Inquirer possible big changes in the competition. “We are exploring on the fact that we will do sportswear instead of swimsuit during the final night. But we will still do the swimsuit evaluation, just not on stage,” Diaz shared.
“Some of our sponsors are a little bit hesitant with the idea of seeing girls in swimsuit on stage, in this day and age. So they don’t want to be put in a situation wherein their stakeholders, stockholders will ask them, ‘Why are you sponsoring an event that makes women catwalk in swimsuit?’ So we are exploring on that possibility of doing sportswear instead,” he continued.
Lopez, who will compete in the 2024 Miss International pageant next year, edged out 39 other aspirants for the 2023 Bb. Pilipinas International title. Anna Valencia Lakrini was crowned Bb. Pilipinas Globe, while Katrina Anne Johnson and Atasha Reign Parani were proclaimed first and second runners-up, respectively. /ra