Philippine Cinderellas beat poverty, seize world stage

As a child she waded in muddy Philippine rice paddies, now teenager Janicel Lubina struts down runways for the country’s top designers and is hoping to be crowned among the world’s most beautiful women. Lubina is a star recruit in one of Manila’s beauty pageant boot camps, where shy, lanky teenage girls from remote farming provinces are transformed into poised Barbie dolls who can preach about world peace in six-inch heels. Beauty pageants are hugely popular with women in the Philippines, with many taking part in the hope it will lead to luxury living, success in high fashion, and movie stardom.

My mother was a maid. I can’t be a maid forever and get stuck in the province.

Beauty queen hopeful Janicel Lubina, 19

In total, the country’s beauties have won the Miss International competition five times, twice each at Miss Universe and Miss Earth and once at Miss World. Local pageant fans are also among the world’s most devoted. In 2010, a YouTube clip of four friends going berserk while watching Miss Universe got close to four million views, prompting fast-food chain KFC to put them in one of their TV commercials.

We’ll take in a girl, she will be in pain because of the duck walk, but the end result is she’ll be a head-turner.

Beauty Camp director and “duck walk” inventor Rodin Gilbert Flores

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