Something’s anomalous with a universe whose Miss Universe 1999 First Runner-Up poses for Playboy.  So when Miriam Quiambao hit the magazine stands in August 2008, she immediately topped my Top 10 Most Disappointing Events That Happened In My Lifetime List. (Update: Right now, it’s been dethroned by the further drifting illusion of a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout.)

Prominent role models turning into sex doll poster girls for sex-driven industries speak of the increasing decay of the Philippines’ entertainment industry. (And I’ll talk about this manner of “decay” next time in the manner of depth Time Magazine would cover the latest pandemic to mess with the air we breathe.)

Do I really have to end my paragraphs in parenthetical statements? (Anyway…)

Miriam fell on the stage during the pageant
 but she got up and wittily used it to her advantage

Miriam’s Miss U victory was every Filipino’s 1999 euphoria. She made us proud when she proved that Pinays could be at the top of the world again. Who could forget the fact that we had to wait TWO DECADES before we could win a crown in the pageant again after Margie Moran became Miss Universe in 1973? It was unfortunate, therefore, to see Miriam pose for Playboy in a desperate attempt to revive her then sinking showbiz career.

Vestiges of the past can remind us of how gracious God has been

But I recently discovered that there’s reason to be proud of Miriam again as if we’re all her stage dads and moms. In an interview with The Edge Media, Miriam confessed that “I was moving in the wrong direction in terms of career and was very much in confusion as a result of my failed marriage. I decided that I needed to ground myself once more in Christ. I made a wish to know God more. When a friend invited me to join them at Bible study, there was no hesitation on my part. It was only when I started walking and pursuing God when I finally experienced healing, happiness and true joy.”

What a cross-over!

Kudos to Miss Q for publicly expressing regret over a career decision—posing for a men’s magazine—widely glorified in the entertainment industry today as though it is the new Famas.

If you’ve been watching QTV-11, you’ll catch Miriam’s The 700 Club Asia (a Christian TV show every weeknight at 11:00) commercial where she testifies the richness of peace we can draw from absorbing the Word of God and living according to it.

Miriam’s career is back to an upswing again even without her compromising her faith. Indeed, if we remain as faithful children of God, He would not hesitate to pour out blessings to us. Proverbs 3:5-6 is timeless in enunciating this principle: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Read about what the beauty queen has been up to lately in Joyce Titular’s (another beauty queen) blog here.  I hope that Miriam continues to grow in the faith through the help of her church friends and leaders by the power of God.

**********

Off-topic: When Miriam won in 1999, I thought of writing a letter to Marvel suggesting either her or Joyce Jimenez or Anjanette Abayari to play Psylocke in the X-Men movie. But I realized there were better things to do. Haha

Jade

Jade is naturally horrified by Mathematics in the same degree that activities which require stamina, agility and athleticism ruins his day. But far from being a couch potato, he bought a brand new Ab Rocket (for an amazingly discounted price) which he plans to use while watching TV and DVDs—activities with which, for him, either society’s moral ascent or descent can be pretty much discerned. He co-hosts a web-radio show on The Edge, and recently went back to school studying Film.

Website - More Posts

You might want to read also: