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he Philippines, it is said, is pageant country. At any given time, a beauty
contest is most likely being held - to choose a barangay muse, or a town's fiesta queen, or a national "Miss" to represent our country abroad. Even Filipino men have jumped into the bandwagon. In fact, way back in 1997, our representative to the Manhunt International contest in Singapore, Vince Pinto, romped off with the 2nd runner-up title (incidentally, Vince is brother to a Riyadh-based migrant worker who is one of the founding members of PWEFI). And more recently, Fil-American Alex Aquino, won for the country it's first Mr. International title in Udaipur, India.

It isn't only the Filipinos, though, who are very fond of pageants. Latinos are too, and so are other Asians. Perhaps in a sense, everyone is. For why else does Miss Universe, for example, still exists despite the protests of anti-pageant groups who believe beauty contests are passe and irrelevant and merely exploit men and women? And why is it that in the Philippines alone there seems to be at least one new pageant being conceived every year?

Clearly, beauty pageants are here to stay. Not only do they remain relevant, they also open doors to young men and women who dream of pursuing a career in showbiz or modelling or serve as excellent venues for others who simply want to express their talents, articulate their views on important issues or develop their personality and social skills. On the part of organizers, on the other hand, pageants are excellent fundraisers for charity and are the perfect media to pro-
mote their causes.

So perhaps one more personality search or pageant won't hurt.

The Philippines to the World Entertainment Foundation, Inc. (PWEFI) -- in co-producing last June Bodyshots 2001 (the country's most prestigious modeling competition) with the Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines (FDAP) -- has realized the viability of such contests as a potent tool in promoting and supporting its own causes.

Taking, therefore, the Foundation's slogan "Giving Overseas Filipinos a face and a voice and making a difference in their lives," and combining it with its main line of activity in pursuing its objectives, which is the use of media and entertainment, PWEFI announces the first-ever beauty and personality search exclusively for young Filipinos who, by proxy, could best serve as THE FACES AND VOICES OF OVERSEAS FILIPINOS.

Welcome to the search for Ginoo at Binibini ng Overseas Filipinos 2002!