Ms. Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach waves to the crowd during a courtesy call on Monday, January 25, 2016. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
THE WORLD’S most beautiful woman has set her heart on entering politics someday.
“I want to be a politician,” Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach told Senate President Franklin Drilon Monday in a visit to the Senate, where she was honored for winning the 2015 Miss Universe crown.
Drilon said he was not surprised by Wurtzbach’s declaration, considering what he said were her “politically conscious” responses at the beauty pageant last month, where she said she saw nothing wrong with the increased presence of American military forces in the Philippines.
Wurtzbach created a frenzy during her appearance at the Senate to accept a resolution congratulating her on her victory that ended a 42-year title drought for the country.
Senate resolution
With camera phones in hand, Senate officials, employees and the media welcomed Wurtzbach, who arrived on the dot accompanied by Miss Universe organization officials headed by its president, Paula Shugart, and Binibing Pilipinas Charities Inc. officials, led by Stella Marquez-Araneta.
Two senators stopped by to congratulate Wurtzbach—Senators Grace Poe and Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, who were holding committee hearings near the packed Recto Room, where a short ceremony honoring the beauty queen was held.
Drilon presented Wurtzbach with a copy of Senate Resolution No. 111 congratulating her for her victory at the Dec. 21, 2015, pageant and stating how she had brought “great honor and glory to the country and the Filipino people.”
‘No dream impossible’
“The Filipina beauty queen’s positive attitude and strong determination to fulfill her dream of winning the 2015 Miss Universe title are indeed positive examples and a great inspiration to her countrymen, particularly the youth, that no dream is impossible as long as he or she puts his or her heart and mind to it,” the resolution said.
The resolution also hailed Wurtzbach for her “firm belief that being a Miss Universe is both an honor and a responsibility to humanity as well as an opportunity to show the universe that she is confidently beautiful with a heart … [and a] deep concern [for] the fate of her fellowmen.”
A grateful Wurtzbach profusely thanked her Senate admirers for welcoming her, saying she was glad she was back home and “excited to see everybody.”
“I’m just really proud being a Filipina,” she said.
‘Prettier package’
Congratulating Wurtzbach on behalf of the Senate, Drilon said that, like the “People’s Champ” Manny Pacquiao, she united the nation “at a time when various issues divide us.”
“Except that she comes in a prettier package,” Drilon said.
Drilon welcomed the beauty queen by saying that her visit had generated more interest than the Mamasapano hearings—the Senate inquiry into the Jan. 25, 2015, clash in Maguindanao province, where Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, was killed in a police operation that resulted in the death of 44 members of the Special Action Force.
Politics later
Speaking to reporters after meeting privately with Wurtzbach, Drilon said she had “intimated” to him her interest in entering politics.
He said he told her she would be a “strong advocate” of the issues she had been speaking about—HIV prevention and cyberbullying, among others.
“I advised her to first try her hand in some appointed position where she can push her advocacy, rather than join politics in an election,” Drilon said.
He said he found it “admirable” that Wurtzbach wanted to go into politics later on.
“Given the political divide that we see today, for her to express interest in politics is something that is admirable for a young woman,” Drilon said.
Told that Wurtzbach wanted to go into politics, Angara said: “I think if she would get into government, she’s very winnable.”