A Beautiful Nationalism

At the outset, there's nothing special about Ma. Desiree Verdadero, Bb. Pilipinas 1984 and the Philippine representative to Miss Universe 1984. She's not the most beautiful woman in the Miss Universe pageant. (There were lots of incredibly beautiful women from among the 81 representatives. Misses Germany, Sweden and Venezuela are but few examples.) Neither was she the most intelligent, and at the coronation night, she wasn't as bubbly.

But there's something about her that other candidates did not posses. Desiree had an irresistible charm. This charm is very natural to her that everything she does on stage seemed so charming. This charm is present in her eyes, in her smile, in her walk, in her answer and even in how she wear her hair. This charm made her one of the strongest contenders in the pageant.

This charm was first noticed by the first set of judges who judged the preliminaries. Desiree ranked second to Ms. Sweden in the top ten. This charm was again noticed by the final set of judges during the coronation night where she ranked third to Misses Sweden and Venezuela in the top five.

Besides the charm, Desiree had an incredible body. She possessed a shapely body which was revealed during the swimsuit competition. She ranked third place (tied with Miss Germany) at the swimsuit competition. Her Filipiniana-inspired colorful long gown, designed by Renee Salud, was unforgettable. She also ranked third place at the long gown competition.

The most deciding factor of the competition was the question and answer portion where the top five finalists were asked the same question. The question was: Should you be the Miss Universe, you will be a symbol to young women and girls all over the world, what would like to tell them?

She answered: "Well all I want to tell them is being Miss Universe is pride and I'd like to spread peace and goodwill to all nations."

The answer was good. But there were better. Miss Sweden and Miss South Africa answered the question superbly. Miss Sweden, Yvonne Ryding, eventually won the crown. Miss Philippines was 3rd Runner Up.

It was a great finish for Desiree and for the Philippines. It was a tough competition and being at the top five was already a great honor. The Miss Universe 1984 was held at James L. Knight Convention Center in Miami, Florida, USA on July 9, 1984. There were 81 representatives from all over the world.

3rd Runner-Up Desiree Verdadero (Philippines), Miss Universe 1984 Yvonne Ryding (Sweden) and 2nd Runner-Up Carmen Maria Montiel (Venezuela). (Photo credit: http://normannorman.com/)

There are only few events that unite a rather diverse Filipino society. The list may include: (1) an impeachment trial, (2) Pacquiao's boxing match and, (3) an international beauty pageant. People from all walks of life, young and old, stop and watch beauty pageants wherever they are and whenever they can. Though, unlike any of Pacquiao's boxing matches that free highways from heavy traffic, beauty pageants shut beauty parlors to a holiday.

As the world progressed, beauty competitions faced issues of irrelevance and women exploitation., among others. Pageant organizers eventually reaffirm the pageants' relevance by pushing for advocacy like environmentalism, women empowerment, international cooperation and beauty with a purpose. This drastically changed the face of the pageants and it became tougher and tougher as countries do not only send beautiful women, they also send those with careers, intelligence and with genuine advocacies.

The success of a candidate is also considered as an achievement of her country. One can often hear a successful candidate saying that her crown is her gift to her people. It is also uncommon to see state flags waved by the audience as their candidate is called.

Here are some of the most beautiful Filipinas who conquered the world stage.