Binibining Pilipinas 2023 first runner-up Katrina Anne Johnson fulfills late mom’s wish
MANILA, Philippines — Katrina Anne Johnson said she dedicates her first runner-up placement in the 2023 Binibining Pilipinas pageant to her late mom, Melody, who dreamed of joining the national pageant as a young lady.
“This really is not just my journey, but my mom’s journey. She really wasn’t able to be a Binibini, and she wanted to be. And life just didn’t have that in the cards for her,” Johnson told the Inquirer when the pageant’s winners engaged in a round of interviews with members of the media at the Owner’s Circle at the Araneta City in Quezon City a couple of days after their coronation.
“I’m really thankful because my parents were always very supportive of whatever I wanted to do. And, unfortunately, my mom passed so she wasn’t able to see me fulfill the dream that we both had. But I knew that if I was gonna do this, then I wanted to make sure that she was incorporated in it,” she continued.
To take her mother along with her in the journey, Johnson thought of a “symbol” to remind her of her mom. “She told me just before she passed that she would come back to me as a butterfly. So I’ve always had a butterfly…I don’t care if people don’t necessarily know. I knew, and that was what was important to me, knowing that she was there,” she explained.
For the national costume show, she showcased a costume inspired by her mother’s favorite flower, the “waling-waling.” And for her final evening gown, she incorporated a design element inspired by butterfly wings. She also painted butterflies on upcycled pieces that she wore to some of the pageant’s activities. “Every OOTD (outfit of the day), I’ve really put a lot of thought into it even if it doesn’t seem like it,” Johnson said.
She said she is aware that not everyone will get the meaning behind her fashion choices, though. “But if they had that image of me, if they saw me in that purple ‘Filipiniana’ with a butterfly, at least they knew that purple is my favorite color and the butterfly’s for my mom. And I would be content knowing that there was a deep part of me that was shared even if they didn’t necessarily know. So I’ve been really happy with the journey so far,” Johnson shared.
But the 2023 Bb. Pilipinas pageant was not her first national competition. She joined, and won, the 2016 Miss Silka contest held in Manila. She was the first winner from Mindanao, and she still had her mother with her at that time to share the glory with.
It was also during that time when the dream for her to someday compete in the Bb. Pilipinas pageant was developed. But it took seven long years, and after her mother had already passed, that it was finally fulfilled. Johnson said she took her sweet time thinking about the “perfect time” to join.
It was 2018 Bb. Pilipinas Supranational Jehza Huelar-Simon who knocked some sense into her. “She was really kind of hyping me up. She’s like, ‘there’s no time like the present. If you keep waiting for the perfect time, time is gonna pass you by.’ I was like, yeah, you know what, I’ll pray about it,” Johnson shared.
At 25, Johnson was already nearing the cusp of the maximum age limit for most pageants. So she assembled her team, the same one she got for her Miss Silka journey, to work out a strategy. “I didn’t have as much time and resources as I would have liked, for sure. But I really wanted to make sure that I had a very personal touch on every aspect,” she said.
She hurdled the final screening, then eventually finished third in a field of 40 aspirants. But as a runner-up, did it hurt that she was just a notch short of a title?
“I used to think that as well. I’ve heard other queens say, ‘first runner up is the most painful because you’re almost there but you weren’t quite good enough.’ Truthfully, I mean this with all my heart, I haven’t felt that way at all. I just remember I prayed and I literally [stretched my arms out] and I said I surrender everything. I was like ‘just give it to the girl that’s the most deserving, we want someone who’s gonna represent our country.’ I’m not going to be selfish and say ‘no, make me that girl’ if I’m not actually the one who’s fit for the crown,” Johnson shared.
However, she is not closing her doors on another attempt at a Bb. Pilipinas crown. She is not confirming that she will indeed join again, but she clarified that she is not marking the end of her pageant journey just yet.
Johnson shared the winning moment of the competition held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum at the Araneta City on May 28 with her fellow runner-up Atasha Reign Parani, Bb. Pilipinas International Angelica Lopez, and Bb. Pilipinas Globe Anna Valencia Lakrini. EDV