Former beauty queen Eva Psychee Patalinjug is making a comeback in the pageant scene.
Two years after passing on the Binibining Pilipinas Grand International title in 2019, Eva is now national director of her own beauty pageant.
The 26-year-old former beauty queen and her team are looking for passionate and empowered women for the pioneer edition of the Magandang Filipinas beauty pageant.
Eva admits that although she misses competing on stage, she feels that her pageant journey has come full circle now that she's a pageant's national director.
In an exclusive interview on PEP Live Extra last Wednesday, May 26, 2021, she said, "Yes, of course, I miss competing like when I browse my Instagram or Facebook page, I can see like young, aspiring beauty queens joining prestigious pageants.
"And I can still remember myself in their shoes, parang nakaka-miss them but as a national director in Magandang Filipinas, at least I can still feel that I am in that scene, in pageant scene, I mean."
EVA Patalinjug ON PURSUING OTHER GOALS
After joining Binibing Pilipinas in 2018, Eva's priorities have changed.
She is now focused on achieving her other goals in life: finishing law school, starting a business, and setting up Magandang Filipinas beauty pageant.
Aside from these, Eva has been busy as a hands-on mom. In February 2021, she gave birth to Baby Fredrick Evan, her first baby with her partner Francis Lim.
Would she have joined Miss Universe Philippines if she had not given birth?
Eva answered, "No."
She further explained, "I already won Mutya ng Pilipinas 2014 and, of course, in Binibining Pilipinas 2018.
"Parang when it comes to experience and my goals when it comes to pageantry, parang naabot ko na, enough na for me.
"For me, without prejudice to those who really loves... parang gusto talaga nilang umabot sa Miss Universe, parang for me, there's more to life than beauty pageants.
"I have my law school, my business, ayun. It's enough. Bigyan naman ng chance iyong iba."
EVA ON MAGANDANG FILIPINAS
Eva hopes to guide aspiring beauty queens through the Magandang Filipinas pageant.
The idea of setting up their own pageant started in November 2020, after Typhoon Rolly ravaged some provinces in the country.
"Magandang Filipinas pageant was a [brainchild] of me and my friends when we helped people during the Typhoon Rolly.
"We realized na we need to find more girls or people who are very willing, very passionate about giving to other people even if there's nothing else to give.
"Parang, 'Okay, why not make a pageant and i-continue natin iyong pagiging matulungin sa iba by promoting the beauty of a Filipina.' And by that, she will be able to expound the realizations that we had."
She added, "Ako iyong na-nominate [as national director] beacuse I'm connected to the pageant [scene]. And they thought, and I think I would agree, that I'm more experienced than them.
"Me winning Binibining Pilipinas and, of course, joining international pageants."
Charity remains the main core of the Magandang Filipinas beauty pageant, but Eva noted that they will be pursuing different advocacies and projects depending on what their winners would want to promote.
"We also thought and realized that we don't want to confine ourselves in one advocacy.
"We want to strengthen the advocacy of each candidate or the winners. So more or less, our advocacy is individualism because we give importance to each advocacy of the candidates."
Three titles—Miss Tourism World, Miss Tourism International, and Magandang Filipinas International—will be given during the grand coronation night of the Magandang Filipinas pageant on August 8, 2021, in Bohol.
Since auditions are still ongoing, what qualities are they looking for in a candidate?
Eva said, "Aside from the published requirements that we have, like the height, age, the nationality, of course, we are looking for the complete package.
"A Magandang Filipina who is beautiful inside and out, who really is passionate about her advocacies and causes in life not just choosing an advocacy just for the sake of joining a pageant. But really very, very passionate about what she does in her life."