by: Editor-in-Chief Ryan Tejero
Tagalog Association of Texas scored high on its staging of Miss Rizal Day 2023. It was an evening of elegance to fundraise in support of scholarship programs in the Philippines. This year, the Miss Rizal was held at the Philippine Community Center on January 6, 2024. The highlight of the event was the participation of young Filipinos in Miss Rizal Day 2023 pageant. Four young women were presented during the event. Each one had shown their talents and paraded in their Filipiniana outfits. With grace and intent to show the Filipino beauty from within, each of the participants spoke about their reason for joining the pageant. The most common response among the four of them was being proud to help fundraise for scholars in the Philippines.
Miss Rizal 2023 and her court was composed of Miss Visayas, Mira Peters; Miss Luzon, Anna Marie Cantrell, Miss Maria Clara, Regielynne Babas, and the reigning Miss Rizal Day 2023 is Aeriana Datu. Miss Rizal Day 2023 also won the Best in Gown and Miss Talent competitions. It was a heartwarming bid of farewell from the previous Miss Rizal Day 2022, Rianne Genova, as she expressed how grateful she was in the opportunity to raise scholarship funds for young people in the Philippines. Miss Rianne won the best talent last year when she drew the image of Dr. Jose Rizal in front of the audience.
Philippine Consul in Houston Gilbert Segarra, in his keynote speech, inspired guests by honoring Dr. Jose Rizal and his influences in today’s society. He talked about the deep roots on the importance of women during the time of Dr. Jose Rizal.
President of Tagalog Association of Texas, Gilda Genova, in her speech, was grateful to those who joined this year’s event. She vowed to continue the tradition of supporting scholars in the Philippines by engaging into more fundraising activities. She said that the scholarship project is for those who are intelligent or bright young people but poor in the Philippines.
The event was well supported by Houston’s FilAm community. FilAm leaders from Houston Lion’s Club, Knights of Rizal, Kabataang Pangarap ni Rizal, Filipino American Council of Texas, Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (FACCGH) were among the present organizations.
Christina Arca from FACCGH was one of the event hosts. She did great by keeping the program at a high energy, entertaining and keeping the guests informed about what’s happening in the community. She also said “My mom is from Pitogo, Quezon which is part of the Tagalog region in the Philippines. I am grateful to serve as event host and to represent FACCGH.”
In his statement about the event, One Philippines Owner and Publisher, Bhong Zausa said that “Our youth is an important segment of our society. I am so grateful to the officers and members of Tagalog Association for organizing such as noble event. It does not speak only on the relevance of Dr. Jose Rizal in his vision of the youth as the hope of our nation, but also involving the young women in their capability to help those who are in need back home. Congratulations to the winners of Miss Rizal 2023.”
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