I Was Columbiazoned Too

A couple of days after the Miss Universe hysteria, the term “Columbiazoned” dominated the social media to refer to women who were made to believe that they own something special that’s suddenly taken away from them because it was not theirs to begin with.

This term reminded me of the word “imeldific” which refers to the extravagant and unnecessary display of riches for bragging purposes. The root word is based on the former first lady’s name, Madam Imelda Marcos, who is a known icon for her lucrative lifestyle.

One morning, Kuya Joel initiated a conversation and shared his insight about the erroneous announcement in the Miss Universe pageant and said that Miss Columbia could have handled the situation with a little more grace. I remarked that ill feelings can’t be avoided in competitions such as Miss Universe and I shared with him my own “columbiazoned” experience.

When I joined Binibining Valenzuela in 2006, I knew that I gave the best response among the remaining top five candidates during the question and answer portion. I was already waiting for the crown to be bestowed upon me but I only landed on the second runner-up spot. Amidst my confusion, it was easy for me to accept my defeat because the title holder really had that flare of beauty and poise.

When the well-known radio personality, Mr. Jobert Sucaldito, went on stage to put the crown to the winning candidate, he turned to my direction and whispered to me, “You are very intelligent.” His remark boosted my morale and something inside me illuminated that I felt that it was okay not to get the crown when you know that the most esteemed judge at the pageant was proud of you.

Kuya Joel said he shivered upon hearing my story.

I reckon my good friend Kathy telling me, “Liz you’re not for beauty pageants, you’re for quiz bees.” Haha!

This Christmas season, I have another experience which reminded me of Miss U. Two of my good friends gave me a present quoting Miss Pia Wurtzbach’s winning answer at the pageant. The message reads...

Now that I’m older and fat, it’s still nice to look back at my winning moments eight years ago. My being a beauty queen did not end in 2006. So long as I continue to do good for the people I care about, in my case my children, I will always be the only beautiful queen in their eyes.