Pinays dominate Miss/Mrs. Top of the World-Plus Size 2018

CEBU, Philippines — “Plus is always positive,” declared Iloilo native Charlene Pagayon Rosco.

As a plus-size woman all her life, Charlene is all too familiar with the judgment, the disapproval and the jokes that hound people on the heavier side. She had been rejected for a position because she was told to being “too heavy” for the reservations post at a hotel – a job that didn’t even require meeting people face to face.

After winning her first international title, Miss Top of the World-Plus Size 2018, the 33-year-old overseas Filipino worker employed in Singapore is determined to transform her struggle into a message for all the world to hear.

Representing Southeast Asia after winning a pageant for the Filipino community in Singapore, Charlene bested 14 other candidates from all over the world at the Miss and Mrs. Top of the World-Plus Size 2018 coronation night held November 9 at the Social Hall of the Provincial Capitol Building.

Charlene talked about striving to fit in, how she tried to look beyond being called “fat” or “Miss Piggy,” how she slowly lost confidence and became bothered by little things like not being able to find clothes her size, to bigger things like being turned down for a job.

She also shared how she fell in love with a sport where her size wasn’t a liability but rather an asset. A thrower in track and field, Charlene has won awards like Athlete of the year. A cancer survivor, she said nothing is impossible if you are determined and passionate. She wants to remind others that being plus-size is neither a hindrance nor a limitation that will keep you from doing great things.

The cooking, painting, travelling, and dancing enthusiast founded an advocacy project for the Ati Tribe of Iloilo. With the help of friends and family, Charlene believes it is her mission to help the indigenous people of her hometown by spearheading livelihood trainings and business opportunities, as well as providing for their basic needs to create a better place for the tribe.

“I am so speechless. I worked for this. I prayed that whoever wins should deserve this. God has answered my prayers,” said Charlene, who finished an AB degree in Philippine Studies Major in Filipino in Mass Media.

“I want to inspire people of my size to have self-acceptance and be positive towards discrimination, and to promote self-awareness, especially in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world.”

Charlene added that she had wanted to join the international pageant last year, where Cebuana Jodel Mesina won the title for the Philippines for the first time in Singapore. The assistant reservation and revenue manager at a hotel in Singapore dedicates her win to her husband and family. While Charlene has to go straight to Singapore for work after the competition, she prays that they may be blessed with a child and start their own family someday. (She suffered a miscarriage last year.)

Charlene’s court includes Philippine bet Johanna Ruth Tan as first runner-up, Russia’s Maria Gorodnicheva as second-runner up, India’s Meenal Sujit Thipse as third runner-up and Trinidad and Tobago’s Kimberly Chan as fourth runner-up.

A number of special awards were also given out: Ukraine’s Anna Pymarenko was hailed Miss Diamond Plus Size; Mrs. Ukraine Antonyk Irina is Miss Star Top of the World; Dolce Wan San Goh from Singapore won Miss Lady Top of the World; Eastern Europe’s Inna Sukhomlynova is Miss Million Top of the World and Best in Talent; Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniya Sikhimbayeva won Miss Elegance Top of the World; East Asia’s Margarita Gumabao won Miss Grace Top of the World; Central Asia bet Kristiana Leigh Causing was hailed Miss Photo Top of the World; Nepal’s Sapana Rai was Miss Smile Top of The World; Europe’s Victoria Brovuna is Miss Top of the World Plus Size Queen; and West Asia bet Denise Danielle E. Sembrano won the Miss Top of the World People’s Choice Award.

The 15 candidates were judged by Hembler Mendoza, Cosette Fernandez, Jonas Borces, Marissa Unchuan, Protacio Empaces and Teresa Alegado.

For the finals, the hopefuls showed off a bit of their respective cultures in the Parade of National Costumes. Oozing with confidence, the candidates sashayed in their sparkling Bling Gowns, then ended the evening donning their extravagant evening gowns.

Cebu hosted the international affair for the first time through MUZZ Events and Production Services, who has Miss Top of the World Plus-Size 2017 Jodel Mesina as CEO. This is the third staging of the competition, dedicated to appreciate the beauty of plus-size women worldwide. Founded by Kristine Lindenblate in Riga, Latvia, Miss and Mrs. Top of the World–Plus Size believes that “beauty will save the world.”

For this year, the pageant’s charity goal is to build classrooms in Uganda for a nursery and primary school. Apart from providing opportunities for the education of children, she wishes that with better classrooms, parents will be encouraged to look for jobs or find a means of income while their children are in school.

For three straight days – Nov. 7-Nov. 9 – the candidates took part in the welcome dinner, swimsuit pictorial, talent night, and personal profile interview which were held at BE Resorts Hotel Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City during the first two days. Before leaving Cebu yesterday, the delegates enjoyed a city tour and an exchange of souvenir items.

Lindenblate, who spent most of the coronation night drawing back the curtains herself so that the candidates can enter the runway safely, is very pleased with this year’s staging. She is very grateful for the warmth of Cebuanos, who welcomed Miss and Mrs. Top of the World-Plus Size with open arms. Hopefully, she said, they will be able to return and experience Cebu once more.