Reigning Miss Tourism International Liana Barrido (right) with pageant owner Tan Sri Datuk Danny Ooi/ARMIN P. ADINA
The Philippines is the most successful Asian country in international pageantry, collecting crowns from major competitions and even setting records in several contests. And the organizer of a Malaysia-based tilt shared his thoughts as to why Filipino queens have been at the top of the league.
“There’s no luck involved; they’re really well prepared,” Miss Tourism International owner Tan Sri Datuk Danny Ooi said at the contract-signing event for the Philippines’ hosting of his 2025 pageant held at the CWC Design Center in Makati City on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 22.
“The Philippines has been winning a lot of titles over the world. And this shows that the Philippines has beautiful girls,” added the international pageant organizer, who is taking his global tilt outside Malaysia for the first time ever in its 30-year history.
The country is the winningest Asian nation in the Miss Universe pageant with four queens and the Miss International contest with six titleholders. It also holds the record for most wins in the Asian-based tilts: Miss Earth with four victories, Miss Asia Pacific International with five, and Ooi’s Miss Tourism International with six.
In fact, the Philippines is way ahead of its closest competitor in the Malaysia-based international pageant, Thailand, which only has three queens to date. The most recent winner is Mutya ng Pillipina Liana Barrido.
“They’re judged by all the judges in the event. The organizers don’t play a role in [judging]. It’s a tough competition; she has to face 40 other countries, and she is the winner,” Ooi shared.
“Every Miss Philippines who won the title are winners in their own rights. I guess that’s what the Philippines is all about,” he continued.
Before Barrido, the Mutya queens who were crowned Miss Tourism International were Peachy Manzano in 2000, the late Rizzini Alexis Gomez in 2012, back-to-back with Angeli Dione Gomez in 2013, broadaster Jannie Alipo-on in 2017, and reigning Miss Philippines-Charm Cyrille Payumo in 2019.
Several other Mutya ng Pilipinas queens also took home auxiliary titles from the Miss Tourism International pageant:
* Raquel Uy, 1999 Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International
* Barbie Salvador-Muhlach, 2010 Miss Tourism Cosmopolitan
* Glennifer Perido, 2014 Miss Tourism Metropolitan
* Aya Fernandez, 2018 Dream Girl of the Year International
* Keinth Jesen Petrasanta, 2021 Miss Southeast Asia Tourism Ambassador
* Maria Angelica Pantaliano, 2022 Miss Tourism Metropolitan
* Jeanette Reyes, 2023 Miss Tourism Metropolitan
Former actress Sherilyn Reyes was third runner-up in the 1995 Miss Tourism International pageant, at a time when the runners-up were not bestowed their own auxiliary titles.
Ooi also sometimes holds separate competitions for his other titles. Sherylle Santarin and Leren Mae Bautista were crowned as top winners in the Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International pageant in 1996 and 2015, respectively.
Ana Marie Morelos and Janela Joy Cuaton, meanwhile, were runners-up in the Miss Tourism Metropolitan pageant held in 2007 and 2015, respectively.
Ooi came to Manila to formalize the Philippines’ hosting of the 28th edition of his international pageant, spearheaded by the Mutya ng Pilipinas organization. “I’m glad to be back here. The Philippines is not new to me. Miss Philippines has been in my pageant since 1993, so it has gone a long way,” he said.