Upon arrival at our airport from the U.S. last Monday afternoon, Arnold Vegafria of Miss World Philippines took her right away to the Bench office in BGC where she signed a contract as their newest endorser and then did some fitting for the undies she would wear in the coming Bench show at MOA Arena. From there, she was whisked to a bienvenida-victory party Arnold hosted for her at Annabel’s.
“I am proud of my unique heritage and to be the First Filipina and only Asian to join and win in Reina HispanoAmericana,” says Winwyn when she joined our table. “When I won the Reina HispanoAmericana Filipinas title, people belittled it saying it’s an unknown, a small, insignificant pageant. But if they really took time to know more about it, they’ll know the pageant is really big in South America and most of the Latina beauty queens who won in other international pageants later have joined it first.”
Does she feel vindicated after some folks insinuated she wouldn’t win because she’s not Latina? “Hindi naman vindicated. But I was overwhelmed when I arrived at our airport, kasi akala ko, hindi ako masyadong papansinin. But very warm ang reception ng mga sumalubong sa’kin dito at sobrang dami ng security. When I made it to the top ten, nagpasalamat na ako. After I won, sabi nila, I can still join other pageants kasi marami ngang nanalo roon na sumali later sa Miss Universe, etc. I can join again, yes, but I won’t. Basta happy na ako sa crown na nakuha ko.”She said her first few days in Bolivia was hard. “It was really tough, kung alam nyo lang, at naiyak talaga ako kasi hindi ako marunong ng salita nila at wala akong personal interpreter. But I pushed myself and got encouraged dahil sa mga Pinoy na nagpalakas ng loob ko, gaya ng Wynaddicts na pinasasaya ako sa group chat. Lahat ng tumulong, like fans of my friends, ang Aldub and others, salamat sa inyo, sa mga kaibigan kong walang sawang mag-boost ng confidence ko. To my Aces and Queens family under Sir Jonas Gaffud, si Sir Arnold, my family, my mom (Alma Moreno), my dad (Joey Marquez), my sisters, my pangga (Mark Herras) na naniwala sa akin kahit maraming nagda-doubt noon, thank you so much for holding my hand all the way to achieving my dream.”
Winwyn’s contract with GMA-7 has expired and it would have to be renegotiated now that she’s an international beauty titlist. For movies, she has signed up with Regal Entertainment. All future projects are reserved for next year.
As an actress, she says she still prefers to play character roles. “Kasi mas challenging pa rin sa’kin magkontrabida. Mas magandang paglaruan.”
She might go back to Bolivia by next month to tour other South American countries and fulfill her duties there as the reigning Reina. “Pero inaayos pa,” she adds. “Nothing’s definite. Magki-Christmas na, e. Gusto ko ring makapag-salita ng fluent Spanish at may kinuha ng tutor ang brother ko para turuan ako.”
To Winwyn, bravo for a job well done! We’re all proud of you!
