Miss Universe Philippines pageant has another ‘curse’ yet to be broken (2025)

Miss Universe Philippines 2025 special award recipients (front, from left) Katrina Llegado, Juliana Fresado, Yllana Aduana, Winwyn Marquez, Millien Joy Cabigas, Ahtisa Manalo and Chelsea Fernandez. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P. Adina

Ahtisa Manalo may have broken one supposed “curse” in the Miss Universe Philippines pageant when she won the crown earlier this month. But there is another one that fans have observed is still pervading in the national competition — that the candidate with the most special awards misses the main title.

The new queen has vanquished the “Binibining Pilipinas curse” in the national pageant, coined by pageant fans after former winners of the older competition failed to win the crown in previous editions despite being frontrunners.

Manalo, crowned Bb. Pilipinas International in 2018, became the first Binibini to win in the Miss Universe Phillippines pageant. Bb. Pilipinas Globe 2018 Michele Gumabao was second runner-up in 2020, while Bb. Pilipinas Tourism 2012 Katrina Dimaranan was Miss Universe Philippines Tourism in 2021

Bb. Pilipinas Grand International 2021 Samantha Panlilio was a finalist in 2023, while last year, Manalo was only second runner-up, with Bb. Pilipinas Intercontinental 2015 Christi McGarry as fourth runner-up, and Bb. Pilipinas Intercontinental 2014 Kris Tiffany Janson in the Top 10.

But with one curse down, pageant observers see another one that Manalo herself had fallen victim to last year. In the 2024 pageant, she received the highest number of special awards totalling to eight.

At the end of last year’s competition, the Miss Universe Philippines title went to Chelsea Manalo, who received only one special award as Miss Jojo Bragais.

In this year’s edition of the national competition, Manalo received only four special awards, half of her 2024 haul, and even shared two of those with other co-winners.

The “hakot award” queen of 2025 was her fellow pageant veteran and fan favorite Teresita Ssen “Winwyn” Marquez, who took home nine special titles, beating Manalo’s 2024 record by one.

Marquez, who ended up as first runner-up, was Miss Jell Life, Miss Clinique de Paris, Miss Aqua Boracay, Miss Wuling, Miss New Moon, Miss Wendy’s, Miss So-En, Miss Zion Philippines, and shared the Miss Mags award with Manalo and second runner-up Yllana Marie Aduana.

In 2023, pageant veteran Pauline Amelinckx was the “hakot award” queen, taking home five special titles. But Michelle Marquez Dee edged her out of the Miss Universe Philippines crown, and she ended up with the Miss Supranational Philipines title instead.

Dee herself was snagged by the curse when she first joined the Miss Universe Philippines pageant in 2022. She took home eight special awards, two more than what eventual winner Celeste Cortesi received.

It was a different story in 2021. Miss Universe Philippines winner Beatrice Luigi Gomez received four special awards, the most for a candidate that year, and equal that of the haul of actress Kisses Delavin who finished in the Top 10.

Will the “hakot award” curse in the Miss Universe Philippines pageant be broken in 2026, just a year after the “Binibini curse” ended? Fans will have to find out next year. /ra