MANILA, Philippines — Miss Charm Philippines 2019 Ashley Subijano Montenegro could have been the country's first-ever international winner of the title had the finals pushed through last March. The pageant system is run by a Vietnamese organization that espouses the platforms of culture, education and tourism.
Due to the global pandemic, the competition had to be postponed four to five times. So when the pageant didn't push through for the fourth year since winning the national Charm title, Ashley decided to "move to a higher platform."
"Joining Global Asian Model Philippines 2019 was for the experience, I’d never joined any other sort of competition before (other than competitive sports). I quickly discovered my determination to win & was actually more intrigued by the one beauty queen title out of the three titles to win, Miss Charm Philippines. Being the first Miss Charm Philippines felt like a good training ground as my baby step into pageantry, & my prayers were answered," she said in an Instagram post.
"Needless to say, the postponings of Miss Charm from 2019-2022 tugged at my heartstrings, but being the first Miss Charm Philippines holds a special place in my heart... The stars aligned when the timing of Miss World Philippines 2022 coincided with what would have been, Miss Charm International. My mentors & supporters were happy for my decision, as they knew how dedicated I’ve been to winning."
The decision to join the Miss World Philippines, she said, is solely hers.
"But before joining, I studied a lot of pageant systems and the Miss World was what resonated with me the most because of their philanthropic pursuits, as well as in being very vocal with their candidates," revealed Makati City's representative.
Growing up, Ashley didn't know that her mom, Cara Subijano, was a beauty queen. Cara won as Binibining Pilipinas World in 1994 and landed in the Top 10 in the international finals. Ashley hopes to break her mom's record and win the country's second crown. The elusive blue crown was won by Megan Lynn Young in 2013.
"Since I was little, ‘whether or not I’d want to be a beauty queen’ was always asked. I grew up not knowing my mom was a former Miss World Philippines, even after learning so I still didn’t know what that meant. To me she was just my mom, my tiger mom who had me focused on my schoolwork & extracurriculars. From her careers as an international model & beauty queen (after graduating at UC Berkeley), she learned it was her kindness & education that always provided career longevity in anything she pursued. Which matches a key lesson my step dad taught me: always have options in life," she narrated.
Ashley was the president of her high school debating team, so the Miss World's head to head challenge, in both national and international finals, had a persuading effect on her resolve to join the national pageant.
"Going to school in the States, I grew up thinking my European-Asian looks weren’t ideal because I wasn’t Caucasian. At age of seven, I developed an interest in becoming a fashion designer which seeded my interest in the fashion/modeling industry. ‘Model when you’re young, gain experience, make connections in the industry, & earn some seed-savings.’ Models don’t have to be the prettiest girls, they just need the right look & know how to project it for the designer/product."
According to her, at first, she did not have the confidence to become a model or to join pageants.
"Fortunately, my physical attributes & lessons learned from my mom helped me to quickly become a bookable runway model. My confidence grew, & I began to appreciate myself for being beautiful. I became socialized with various people in the modeling industry, where I befriended & learned from fellow beauty queens about their roles as ambassadors. The influence of Pia Wurtzbach illuminating HIV awareness & Catriona Gray’s advocacy for equitable education showed me how influential beauty queens are. It took me by surprise, but excited me as I gradually began to see it as a platform where women are celebrated for their diverse beauty, & champion the causes they stand for with their intellect. From there, my budding interest in becoming a beauty queen, began... after finishing college that was my mom’s rule!"
Ashley is a Junior at the Endurun College, pursuing a degree in Entrepreneurship. She opened two businesses in preparation for her internship next year. But right now, she is focused on her pageant journey with the Miss World Philippines (MWP). She's training with the Aces & Queens camp and is learning the ropes of putting on pageant makeup with Jim Ryan Ros of Culture Salon.
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In her Instagram post, she opened up about being bashed and body-shamed this early in the MWP competition.
"Aces & Queens began mentoring me to compete internationally. Needless to say, I had a lot of work to do. Receiving a lot of support came with a share of bashers who body-shamed me & negatively compared me to other women I looked up to. My mom advised me to just focus on my personal development & be purposeful by utilizing the philanthropical platform. Being put down by people both close to me & distant on the internet forced me to develop a strong mental fortitude."
Despite the setbacks, she said she never lost consistency in her preparations.
"I studied every single other major pageant, because there was no previous Miss Charm for me to understand the peg of. Out of the other organizations I’d studied, Miss World grew to become my favorite. I appreciated the elegance of their brand, how they held advocacies with high regard, & gave their candidates so much more time to speak their minds. So should I ever join for another title after Miss Charm, I hoped for Miss World... I look forward to this next chapter of empowering other people with an organization that has done so beautifully for 70 years, following my next dream of becoming the next Miss World PH," she said.
"After the announcement of the Top 35 official candidates lineup, all us girls just clicked. It's a sisterhood! However, people have no idea of what we do to pursue our respective pageant journeys. It's not a walk in the park. Plus, winning the crown is a matter of destiny!"
Will Ashley be our next national winner like her mom? If she does, will she conquer the world and bring home the blue crown back to the Philippines? In a month's time, we will know.
Miss World-Philippines 2022 will unfold on June 5 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
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