While the world is getting more and more liberal, allowing transgender women to join beauty pageants traditionally for candidates who were born female is still moot. This is one of the three beauty pageant questions I asked Teresita Ssen “Winwyn” Marquez when I met her.
On October 18, 2017, a send-off party was held at Anabel’s Restaurant in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines for Marquez and Miss World Philippines 2017 Laura Lehmann. It was attended by Miss World Philippines national director Arnold Vegafria, Miss Multinational Philippines Sophia Senoron, Miss Eco Philippines Cynthia Thomalla and Miss World Philippines 2017 runners-up Glyssa Leian Perez and Zara Carbonell.
Marquez was about to leave the event when I stopped her for a quick question-and-answer portion. Here are her answers to my questions:
Conan Altatis: What is the best way to achieve world peace?
Winwyn Marquez: The best way to achieve world peace is you have to start within yourself because if you’re at peace, that will have an effect on other people, as well. So, you have to be at peace.
CA: Should transgender women be allowed to join Miss World?
WM: I respect transgender women. But we have to also respect the essence of being a woman and the tradition of beauty pageants, as well. So, I think they should have their own pageants and then we should celebrate our gender in our own ways, as well.
CA: What is the greatest contribution of the Philippines to the world?
WM: The people. The Filipino people are everywhere and they are survivors. They will work hard for their families. There are OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) everywhere, and they do that so they can survive and feed their families and that is the best thing about the Philippines.
Marquez is currently in Bolivia for Reina Hispanoamericana 2017. The daughter of Filipino actors Joey Marquez and Alma Moreno is the first Asian to join the prestigious beauty pageant traditionally for Latina women.
Watch my interview with Winwyn here:
CONAN Daily 