PAMELA Bianca Manalo, simply Bianca to
friends, is an imposing presence both on and off stage.
Standing at 5’10", this 22-year-old Advertising graduate of
Assumption College works as a Flight Attendant for Philippine
Airlines, the country’s official flag carrier.
This towering beauty was born in Manila but
now lives in Paranaque with her family. She is not new to the
world of beauty pageants since an aunt is a former Ms.
Philippines International and her older sister, Kate Manalo-Hernandez,
was Ms. Philippine World.
Fiercely independent, driven and bestowed
with a keen sense of volunteerism, Bianca finds fulfillment in
being involved in community-based projects. "I am very
thankful that my family has always been blessed but I’m also
concerned about the plight of other less fortunate families in
our community and in our society as well. Before I joined Bb.
Pilipinas, I’ve always been happy to volunteer for Gawad
Kalinga in building houses for the poor, joining medical
missions and participating in our community’s feeding
programs. Through this pageant’s various humanitarian
missions, I was able to become more involved in a larger scale
and to make a bigger impact in the upliftment of the quality
of life of our marginalized brothers, especially the victims
of calamities and our wounded soldiers," she says with
conviction."
Aside from fulfilling her duties and
responsibilities as Miss Philippines Universe, Bianca also
trained tirelessly and diligently to fulfill her most
cherished dream of becoming Ms. Universe. To ensure that she
was prepared and worthy of the crown, she took language
courses, reviewed her Philippine History, Geography, Economics
and Arts & Culture. She also learned as much as she could
about Bahamas, host of this year’s Ms. Universe pageant.
For the intense media scrutiny that beauty
queens are normally subjected to, she has undergone and
excelled in on-cam training, like hosting and angles, plus
hair and make-up lessons since she will have to do her own
hair and make-up during the Ms. Universe pageant.
Despite the pressures, hectic schedules and
the seemingly daunting task ahead of her, Bianca is determined
to plunge head on in her pursuit of the Ms. Universe title. "I
believe that if you really want something, you have to give it
your 101%," she says.
