Established 1961 Lifestyle MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2019 A reveler wearing a mask and a period costume takes part in the Venice Carnival yesterday in Venice. — AFP ‘Beauty boot camps’ key to Philippine pageant dominance Aspiring beauty queen Monica Joelle Ortiz cooking lunch in her house in Aspiring beauty queen Monica Joelle Ortiz at a gym in Manila. An aspiring beauty queen putting on make-up before the start of the “duck Manila — AFP photos walk” practice. odgil Flores casts a stern taskmaster’s glance as grimacing young What they did was to raise the level of pageant training,” Flores told AFP. by teams of amazing people who will lift you up as you make all your prepa- women in bikinis stride across one of the mirror-walled studios that is “Our evolution (into) a beauty pageant superpower compels every Filipina rations,” Gray told reporters on Wednesday. Before the Manila boot camps Rcentral to making the Philippines a beauty pageant juggernaut. In 17- competing internationally to prolong this streak,” the 50-year-old added. arose, the country’s Miss Universe and Miss World contestants were sent to centimetre (seven-inch) stiletto heels, the stu- Manila’s beauty boot camps effectively create a train at similar camps in Venezuela and Colombia, which have also had consis- dents sway their hips between long slow strides, production line of contenders for the Miss tent pageant successes. a brutal drill that Flores requires them to repeat Universe crown. Their students come up from This was a significant expense in a nation where 21 percent of the popula- in order to make the act of sashaying second the country’s circuit of local beauty competi- tion lives on less than $2 a day and getting visas can be tricky. Ric Galvez, nature come pageant time. “For crown. For The rise of the camps turned tions and then hone their skills in a bid to reach overall coordinator of Missosology.org, a Philippines-based pageant country”, is the slogan of the Kagandahang “ “ the next level. Miss Philippines 2019 hopeful resource website said the contests have a deeper cultural resonance for Flores (Flores Beauty) studio he set up in 1996, the Philippines into a beauty Melba Ann Macasaet, 25, took extended leave Filipinos. The events hark back to the annual pageants that have been held at the first of a handful of Philippine beauty boot from her job as a government pharmacist to join village and town festivals for hundreds of years. Beauty queens are held up as camps that have helped transform the nation’s pageant powerhouse Flores’ beauty studio. though they are royalty in the Philippines and often take public stances on pageant fortunes. It took her two weeks and several miscues to key social and welfare issues. With the naming of Catriona Gray as Miss master his signature stride, called the “duck During the Miss Universe pageant Gray spoke in favor of medical mari- Universe 2018, the Philippines took home its walk”. “I have been joining pageants since I was juana, which some lawmakers feel has helped advance a bill to legalize fourth title in what is considered the summit of 15 years old. I believe that every pageant girl has cannabis-containing medicines in the Philippines. Galvez said: “Filipinos the beauty contest world. Both Gray and 2015 winner Pia Wurtzbach trained dreams of being able to try and do this,” she said. It will be about another are looking up to their beauty queens for some sort of guidance on matters in the Philippines’ beauty studios before securing their wins. Success in the month before she knows if she has made the cut for the pageant, which of national relevance.” — AFP pageant world can open doors to commercial, film, and modeling work. “The organizers expect to be held in June. rise of the camps turned the Philippines into a beauty pageant powerhouse. Patriotism and pageantry The beauty boot camp runs six days a week and sessions often stretch on till midnight. Some 200 hopefuls a year take part in the training at Flores’ studio, which include gym workouts, make-up lessons, and duck walk drills. There are also formal classes where the students take part in mock pageant situations, learning to deliver concise responses to tricky questions on world peace and equality usually asked of contestants. Training is free for Filipinas, who camp organizers usually recruit from provincial contests. Beauty industry benefactors pitch in to cover costs and many people donate their time to help shape what they hope are future champions. “We don’t earn anything, but we do this out of our passion for beauty pageants,” said Arnold Mercado, the manager and personality devel- opment coach of Aces & Queens, the other main Philippine pageant camp. Mercado, 51, quit his job as an engineer for an oil company after 28 years to focus full time on pageant coaching. He counts Wurtzbach and Gray among Aspiring beauty queens wearing stilleto heels as they waith for the start of the “duck Aspiring beauty queens looking at a mirror before the start of the “duck walk” practice. those he mentored. “We’re so lucky here in the Philippines to be surrounded walk” practice..