Unfortunately, that colonial mentality seeped in through the world of pageantry. We insist on mestizas when we are far more successful when our delegate is not. Think about Gloria Diaz, Margarita Moran, Miriam Quiambao, Lara Quigaman…These grand dames of our pageantry world do not share the same racial profile with our Bb. Pilipinas 2009 favorites like Cai Kuijpers, Melodie Gersbach, Marie-Ann Umali and Sandra Seifert. And yet we insist that these half breeds are the best women to represent our country when we knew that the likes of Anna Lorraine Tomas Kier and Joyce Anne Fellosas Burton failed to bring honor to our country.

It’s not that mestizas do not deserve to represent the Philippines. Everything should be carried out according to merit such that no one should be robbed of a crown on the basis of her racial profile. It’s just that our colonial mentality skews our perspective in many cases. I have no doubt then that our beautiful delegate to Miss Universe 2009 Pamela Bianca Manalo is a victim of our rotten and despicable colonial mentality. She was never a crowd favorite although it was undeniable that she is the stand-out during the finals night. She truly deserved all the special awards that she amassed. Her height at 5 feet and 10 inches is a far cry from – at least in the world of pageantry – Jennifer Barrientos’ 5’8”, Anna Theresa Licaros’ 5’9”, Lia Andrea Ramos’ 5’8”, Gionna Cabrera’s 5’9.5”…Ergo, we can safely declare that Pamela Bianca is the tallest Miss Universe delegate we had in recent memory. The point of course is not to insist that height is a prerequisite to Miss Universe 2009 title. But think about a 5 feet 5 inches delegate next to the six-feet tall Czech blonde bombshell. Scary isn’t it? It is suffice to say then that height is one of the advantages of Pamela Bianca. Interestingly, she stood higher than Melodie Gersbach and Marie-Ann Umali – both of whom are mestizas.

Pamela Bianca also possesses qualities seen in some of our beloved beauty queens. She has a prominent forehead similar to that of Margarita Moran. She also has a body not seen since Miriam Quiambao charmed everyone at Trinidad and Tobago. These features were definitely overlooked prior the finals night. Everyone was rooting for the mestizas a.k.a. the half-breeds. Pamela Bianca also has cheekbones that are wonderfully noticeable.

When she won the Bb. Pilipinas 2009, many rabid critics and beauty pageant wonks gave scathing criticisms. Many of these critiques are below the belt. Some alleged that the entire Bb. Pilipinas 2009 pageant is but a “cooking show”. As months progressed however, with Pamela Bianca showing up in some variety shows, many of these critics backtracked. They found out that Pamela Bianca might be our best hope for the Miss Universe crown in decades.

So what are the real chances of Pamela Bianca at Miss Universe 2009? If there are 80 delegates that will show up, then, like Miss Venezuela or Miss USA, she has a 1 in 80 chance to win! The Philippines may not be the hottest sash in Asia these days but remember in 1999, the same sash wasn’t popular as well. Also, like Miriam Quiambao, Pamela Bianca emanates Asian features that could prove popular in a far-flung region of the Caribbean. There is also a good chance that because the pageant is held in the Americas, the focus will not be on that region (Think why Asians are hits in Mexico while the Latinas are popular in Vietnam). So purportedly, if the attention is in Asia, Philippines could stand out because based on pageantry timeline, traditional Asian powerhouses like Japan and India had their powers spent already. The only real danger would be Vietnam due to the momentum effect (it’s the host country last year) and India due to the rebound effect (the country failed to make it to the Top 15 last year).

Whatever the political situation will be, Pamela Bianca can best survive by just being herself. It’s difficult to make up a faux delegate based on total transformation. It’s far more effective to build a formidable delegate based on enhancements. For example, Pamela Bianca can enhance her catwalk skills by emulating Miriam Quiambao. Bb. Pilipinas can also enhance Pamela Bianca’s stature by choosing gowns by big house names. Japan had been doing that and Miriam Quiambao used an Oscar de la Renta with positive results. Local yet traditional fashion houses in the country may stroke that nationalistic chord but let’s face the fact that it’s “those were the days” at the moment. Meanwhile, the Colombian fashion used during the early years of this decade proved fatal.

When it comes to personality let’s hope that Pamela Bianca is a flight attendant of say, Cathay Pacific or of the domestic flights of Philippine Airlines (heaven forbid that she’s from the international route of our flag carrier). If that’s the case, Pamela Bianca should have mastered the art of grace under pressure (passengers that keep pressing the attendant’s button) and calm amid disaster (flight attendants are trained to have this).

Confidence is also the key. Pamela Bianca should start acting like a winner from the start. That is the key why Dayana Mendoza subdued strong opposition like Taliana Vargas. She should not succumb to hopelessness when facing “superior” delegates. Latin American countries can send delegates that can be daunting and demoralizing. But a tip or more from her sister Kate Manalo and from her aunt Nenita "Nini" Tuazon Ramos will be a big help. It is important to stress the fact that Kate Manalo broke the seven year drought of the Philippines at Miss World. She exuded confidence at Miss World 2002 where she also aced interviews by giving quotable quotes (remember that, “happy are those…”?). Kate generally fended off the intimidating stature of Latina delegates and no doubt she is one hell of a poised woman. Also her blue gown had been the talk of the local pageantry world for quite sometime. Nini Ramos on the other hand was one of the Top 15 semifinalists at Miss International 1968. It may be a distant history but Nini’s experience can teach Pamela many lessons.

So, critics can blab their ill-mouth or the Vietnamese and the Japanese can try to intimidate us but there is no way that support for Pamela Bianca should wane. It is also important that the fans should share responsibility by trying to tone down their rhetoric and harness their hypes. Many foreign experts credit these negative ways of promoting our delegates to their eventual downfall. Come August 23, it should be August 24 in Manila; we will share the excitement and cheer by the sidelines to the woman who will represent our dear country. If she fails, our support should still be there. If she wins, we will celebrate it with humility and gracefulness. But for those who are more flamboyant, there is no written rule that forbids loud cheering and flaunt celebrations.