Before 1964, the
Philippine delegate to the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant was chosen by various
organizers and sponsors that included such institutions as Boys Town, Casino
Español of the Philippines, Elks Cerebral Palsy, and, in the case of the first
ever search for Miss Philippines of 1952, Khan Cigarettes, which received its franchise
from the Miss Universe Committee.
In 1963, long-time
impresario Alfredo Lozano acquired the pageant franchise through his promotions
company, Japonica Consultants Inc., which staged the 1963 quest in cooperation
with sponsors Gentex and the Philippine Couture Association. That year’s
edition, which ended with the selection of Lalaine Bennett, was met with
criticisms—from the quality of the contestants to the drab production and even
lousier entertainment.
The search for the queen
had to conform to the international standards imposed by the Miss Universe
committee, which set age, height and physical criteria for contestants. The local
winner also acquired a new title—Binibining Pilipinas (Miss Philippines) – and
with it came the honor of representing the country in the world’s most
prestigious beauty competition.
That honor---of being
named the first ever Bibining Pilipinas--- turned out to be reserved for a
beautiful Fernandina, then 21 year old Maria Myrna Sese Panlilio. Myrna
Panlilio, born in 1943, was the eldest of 4 children of Enrique M. Panlilio and
Jaina Sese. She went to local school and completed high school at St. Scholastica.
Her college years were spent in Maryknoll and upon graduation, she was
immediately taken in as a teller for Merchant’s Bank. Though already employed,
the beautiful Myrna was egged on to join beauty pageants. In fact, two days
before the Bb. Pilipinas, she was at the 1964 Maid of Cotton contest, won by
Bettina Herrero.
Undeterred, she made it as
one of the 15 official candidates to the 1964 Bb. Pilipinas Pageant, trimmed
down from a total of 28 applicants. The finals were originally scheduled for July
3, but had to be postponed due to Typhoon Dading. Two days later, in a
spectacular beauty show at the Araneta Coliseum, Myrna Panlilio was crowned as
our country’s first Binibining Pilipinas, succeeding the outgoing queen,
Lalaine Bennett, who had placed fourth at the 1963 Miss Universe.
Myrna’s runners-up
included Bb. Waling-waling, Milagros Cataag and Bb. Ilang-ilang, Elvira
Gonzales (mother of another future binibini, Charlene Gonzales). One other
losing candidate was Milagros Sumayao, a former Miss Press Photography winner
like Elvira, who would later be known in showbiz as Mila Ocampo (mother of
Snooky Serna).
The new Binibining
Pilipinas won a slew of prizes that included P2,000 in cash , gold trophy from
the Lions Club, a complete wardrobe from the Philippine Couturiers’
Association, Helene Curtis beauty products and a Regal sewing machine. She also
won the right to represent the country in the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in
Miami Beach, Florida with the title going to Miss Greece, Korinna Tsopei. Myrna
enjoyed her stint in the U.S. though, and even attended a Democratic Convention
at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, visited the World's Fair and met Shirley
Temple! She also played host to Miss Universe 1964 when she came to visit the
Philippines in 1965.
After her reign, Myrna
went right back to her work at the bank. Two years after her reign, she married
the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Ramon N. Borromeo (+) in June 1966. Dr. Borromeo’s
mother had been also been a beauty queen from Cebu--Amparo Noel, the 1912 Queen
of Visayas. She settled down to a suburban life and became an active member in
several socio-civic organizations. The Borromeos had three children: Ramon Jose
(1967), Patricia Ann (1971) and Mitzi (1977). Patricia or Trisha was well known
as a model and as a former girlfriend of actor Richard Gomez, but sadly passed
away in 2003 from lymphoma. In her memory, Myrna put up the Trisha P. Borromeo
Legacy Association, which aimed to support the University of the Philippines -
Philippine General Hospital Pediatric Cancer Ward.
Myrna’s name re-surfaced
during the term of Pres. Joseph Estrada when she was named as Executive
Director of the Nayong Pilipino. On 17 July 2009, Myrna unexpectedly passed
away from a gall bladder disease at the Makati Medical Center. She was just 66,
but Myrna’s place in Pampanga’s history had already been sealed on that one
fateful night in June—with the proclamation of a Kapampangan as the country’s
first Binibining Pilipinas—the most beautiful Filipina of 1964.
Source:
http://viewsfromthepampang.blogspot.com/2010/12/231-first-binibining-pilipinas-myrna-s.html
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