90. THE EXALTATION OF BEAUTY, II

That is not to say, however, that the Carnival participants were totally free from some form of exploitation, both subtle, overt and legitimate. After all, the Carnival was looked at as a business venture, and the beauty search was an accepted means of raise funds. Early publicity materials like to point out that every candidate representing “the piquancy of Morolandia, the grace of the Mountain Province, the charm of the Modern Filipina, not forgetting the dark-eyed Spanish mestizas, the blue-eyed daughters of American pioneers and the almond-eyed descents” can vie for, and win the queenship.

DAUGHTERS OF LUZVIMINDA. Beauties from Luzon (Miss La Union), Visayas (Miss Leyte) and Mindanao (Miss Lanao) converge at the 1927 edition of the Manila Carnival.

Those who were really in a better position to win the crown were daughters of de buena familia families who not only had the financial clout, but who also possessed sterling reputation and spotless character. Indeed, the voting public seemed to have placed a premium on the candidate’s distinguished background over physical beauty if one were to see the early list of winners. It was not necessary to make character investigations as the delegates were often handpicked by provincial officials and came to Manila with the most glowing recommendations.

REDEFINING THE STANDARDS OF BEAUTY. Carmen Papa, who, as one observer noted was "the least attractive, but certainly the gentlest", went on to win the 1925 Carnival Queen title. It also helped that his father, Ramon Papa, was a high profile member of the Philippine Commission.

Such was the case of the early winners like Pura Villanueva, whose feminist writings were already familiar to Manila society even if she wrote for regional newspapers. In 1925, queen-elect Carmen Papa, was described by beauty observers as being the least attractive among the candidates, but certainly “the gentlest”. The next year, when the choice for the Queen vacillated between Anita Noble of Batangas and Carmen Fargas of Zamboanga, the judges finally cast the deciding vote for the candidate with the more distinguished lineage—Anita Noble, who had the illustrious Agoncillos (diplomat Felipe, Maria, wife of Emilio Aguinaldo; Marcela, maker of the Philippine flag) on her bloodline.

Delegates of ethnic descent had slim chances of winning the crown given the stature of their provinces compared to imperial Manila which produced the most number of Carnival Queen winners (8), followed by Batangas with 3 (1913, 1923, 1926) and Iloilo, Bulacan and Pampanga with 2 winners. Even the backgrounds of the two Kapampangan winners were downplayed as Socorro Henson (1926) and Guia Balmori (1938) practically grew up in the city. The 1927 queen, Luisa Fernandez was actually from Tayabas, but represented Manila as she was a student in the city at the time of the contest.

PROMDI QUEEN. Provincial lasses held their own against the more sophiticated beauties from Manila and other key cities. Iloilo was the first province to have a daughter proclaimed as Carnival Queen, but only after the original Manila winner renounced her crown.

One would think that when a panel of judges replaced public subscription voting in 1926, the playing field for all contestants would be levelled. While it was true that Bala Amai Miring (Miss Lanao 1926) and Nora Maulana (Miss Sulu 1927) made it to the royal court as Misses Mindanao, the rules decreed at that time that the regional winners should authentically come from the provinces of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. This rule was revoked in 1930, and henceforth, the second, third and fourth placers were named as Miss Luzon, Miss Visayas and Miss Mindanao respectively.

MINDANAO MAIDENS. Nora Maulana and Bala Amai Miring (left and middle) were both named as Miss Mindanao in the 1926 and 1927 Carnival. Rules dictated then that the regional winners should come authentically from the region. No other Mindanao beauty won after the rules changed in 1930, where the regional titles were awarded to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placers, irregardless of their origins . The third girl is Scott Rasul , Miss Sulu of 1926.

For ‘minority contestants’, the rule change practically reduced the chances of winning to virtually nil, paving the way for more Manileñas to place in the finals. There was quite a dissonance in the victory of Louise Stevens as Miss Mindanao 1931—as she was an American-mestiza and a Manila resident.

ALBAY CARNIVAL QUEEN OF 1935. Teresa Barrenechea. Provincial petit fairs were all the rage in the 1930s, with mini-carnivals staged everywhere from Cebu to Sorsogon, Capiz to Cagayan , Pampanga to Baguio.

The provinces thus, concentrated on their provincial fairs and expositions which, like the Cebu Carnivals, were said to rival the national event in Manila in terms of pomp and pageantry. Provinces like Baguio, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Tarlac, Sorsogon, Capiz and Pampanga held their own spectacular carnivals, electing Queens who did not have to go to Manila to compete for the Miss Philippines title; their royal duties were exclusive to their provinces alone.

46. 1925, Queen of the Manila Carnival, CARMEN AREVALO PAPA

1925 QUEEN OF THE MANILA CARNIVAL. 19 year old Carmen Arevalo Papa of Manila, only daughter of Dr. Ramon R. Papa, member of Quezon's Philippine Mission.

One of the most prominent winners of the Manila Carnivals was Carmen Arevalo Papa, the only daughter of Dr. Ramon R. Papa, who was a member of Quezon’s Philippine Independence Mission to Washington D.C. and Lutgarda Arevalo. Dr. Papa was also a popular figure, well-liked both among the galenos and among the politicians. He owned a range of businesses, running a drug store and several haciendas, and , at one point, was the head of a gold mining firm in central Luzon. Lutgarda died while giving birth to Carmen and an aunt took care of the infant. She grew in comfort, however, staying with his father on San Pedro St., now Evangelista, in Manila.

MOORISH MOTIF. The 1925 Manila Carnival Gate Entrance featured parapets, domes, statues in niches and arches, inspired by Moorish architecture.

THE 1925 CARNIVAL TOWER. A Carnival mainstay is the landmark 6 storey tower. It followed the Moorish design of the main entrance.

On 19 July 1909, Dr. Papa married again, this time to Angela Montenegro. She looked after the motherless baby as if she were her own. Carmen was sent to St. Scholastica’s College and at age 19, she suddenly found herself a leading candidate of the 1925 Manila Carnival. She won the crown, and her stepmother helped her prepare for her night of nights.

CARMEN AS CLEO. The queen of the 1925 Manila Carnival dressed like an alluring Egyptian princess, complete with an asp on her headdress.

WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN. Queen Carmen with escort Vicente Mendoza, at the Egyptian-themed coronation ball.

The Coronation motif was Egyptian and Queen Carmen II came as Cleopatra, complete with a crown topped by an asp and “bearing the scepter of Joy and Good Humor”. Her King Consort was Vicente Mendoza, who came dressed as a pharaoh complete with an head dress and ankh staff.

AGE OF PHARAOHS. The royal court of the 1925 Manila Carnival, attired in full Egyptian regalia during the Grand Coronation Night.

The royal court also came in full Egyptian regalia and the effect on the crowd was nothing short of spectacular. In the next balls, Carmen came in traditional baro’t saya that showed her real Filipina beauty.

Two years later, Carmen found herself meeting another Vicente—Vicente Delgado, a young lawyer from a distinguished Cebuano family. Vicente’s father, Tomas Delgado, was a former mayor of Barili, Cebu. The couple were married in a civil ceremony in Baguio on 1 May 1927, and their secret wedding became the buzz of the town and blind items started to appear in leading newspapers about the couple. Vicente left his bride and went back to Cebu to be with his parents. Finally, Carmen and Vicente squelched all rumors by getting married canonically at the San Marcelino Church, 2 months later, on 16 July 1927. (In 1930, their secret wedding was to have negative consequences with regards to family property, resulting in a court case between Carmen and his stepmother, Angela Montenegro).

HER MAJESTY, QUEEN CARMEN II. In one of her official portrait sitting, wearing a traditional Filipina costume and a rhinestone crown.

It was a good thing that Carmen and Vicente decided to live in Cebu, away from the unpleasant feelings the court case brought. From Barili, they moved to Cebu City to raise their 8 children: Lutgarda, Gualberto, Teodoro, Ramon, Milagros, Benjamin, Pacita and Ana Victoria. In later years, because Carmen still had land holdings in Manila, the Papas relocated to Makati to make supervision of their real estate business easier.

CARMEN'S CHARM, captured in a salon photograph, showing the Queen in character as an Egyptian royal.

In her later years, Carmen developed a devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes, even making a pilgrimage to France to seek help for her asthmatic condition. Her ailment grew progressively worse and on 7 June 1970, Carmen Papa, the toast of the 1925 Manila Carnival, died of asthma-induced cardiac complications at age 64.