272. Carnival Activities: 1929 MISS PHILIPPINES AT THE ILOILO CARNIVAL

FULFILLING HER DUTIES. Pacita de los Reyes, queen-elect of the 1929 Manila Carnival, is feted at the 1929 Iloilo Carnival.

Miss Philippines of 1929, Pacita delos Reyes, was honored at the Iloilo Carnival in La Paz, Iloilo. Forming her court are members of the younger set of the Iloilo and Negros “Four Hundred”. Pacita’s September visit was auspicious as a few months later, she was succeeded by a young Ilongga beauty, Consuelo Acuña, 1930 Miss Philippines.

265. Carnival Pageant: TRIUMPH OF EROS AT THE U.P.

 NIGHT OF NIGHTS. Student participants of the highly-acclaimed show "Triumph of Eros" pose for a picture at the Carnival Auditorium after wowing the crowds of the 1929 Manila Carnival.

The most elaborate pageants and productions were staged during the 1929 Manila Carnival, at the croronation of the queen, Pacita de los Reyes, the official delegate of the University of the Philippines, College of Law.

Officials of the state university pulled out all the stops for their triumphant representative, toasting her coronation with magnificent spectacles and themed shows. There was a show with a "Pearl of the Orient" theme, another that was virtually a dance fest, participated in by Physical Education students.

One particular presentation stood out, however, entitled "Trumph of Eros", a pageant directed by Prof. Bartolome and Miss Francisca Reyes, which had a Grecian theme. It was staged at the Carnival Auditorium on 8 February 1934, and drew raves from the Carnival crowd, eliciting considerable applause, as newspapers reported.

255. Her College Yearbook, PACITA DE LOS REYES, Miss Philippines 1929

PACITA DE LOS REYES, Miss Philippines 1929, in her gradutaion toga as an honors graduate of the University of the Philippines, College of Law.

Miss Philippines of 1929, Pacita Ongsiako de los Reyes was a law student when she represented University of the Philippines at the 1929 search for Miss Philippines.

The statuesque scholar won the title and had an enjoyable year fulfilling the obligations as Miss Philippines. But school had always been a top priority, and she went right back to her law course after her reign was over, distinguishing herself as an outstanding debater, orator and member of the honor roll. Her contemporaries included Ambrosio Padilla and Arturo Tolentino.

 Done with her law course, she took the bar and became one of the topnotchers in the 1934 Bar Exams, copping 7th place. On 10 November 1934, she was officially installed as member of the bar.

She had a brilliant career, and shared her legal mind by teaching subjects at U.P., Holy Ghost College and Far Eastern University. She unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in 1957 under Claro M. Recto’s party.

251. Carnival Beauties: ANGELINA VILLAFRANCA, 1929 Miss Philippines Candidate

ANGELIC ANGELINA. 1929 Miss Philippines Candidate.

When the 1929 Manila Carnival re-opened after a year in hiatus, the search for Miss Philippines was expanded to include colleges and universities, making the quest even more competitive. There were candidates from well-known schools like the University of the Philippines, Centro Escolar de Senoritas, Sta. Rosa College--and even Manila College of Pharmacy.

From a lesser-known school came Angelina Villafranca, Miss Filipino Academy. She was no match, however, for the state university's candidate, Pacita de los Reyes, who had the whole school's campaign machinery behind her.

208. Carnival Beauties: REMEDIOS RAMA, 1929 Miss Philippines Candidate

CEBUAN-o-RAMA AT THE CARNIVAL. U.P. coed Remedios Rama in her official picture as the candidate of Daily Bulletin to the 1929 Miss Philippines search, won by schoolmate Pacita de los Reyes.

Remedios Rama comes from the well-known Rama family of politicians and writers of Cebu, Cebu. A direct relative, Vicente Rama, "the father of Cebu City", was a senator, assemblyman and a mayor of Cebu during the Commonwealth years.

Remedios was a student at the College of Education, University of the Philippines when she was prevailed upon by the Daily Bulletin to be their official candidate to the Miss Philippines queenship of the 1929 Manila Carnival, a title won by her schoolmate and law student, Pacita de los Reyes.

57.1929, DAMAS DE HONOR

SUPREME COURT 1929. Queen Pacita is surrounded by her princesses--all campus beauties-- in this rare photo montage.

An innovation in the 1929 Miss Philippines, as briefly mentioned earlier, was the temporary scrapping of the regional winners who made up Miss Philippines’ royal entourage—Misses Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Instead, 4 princesses (damas) were elected to form the 1929 court of beauty, each of equal rank, and each bearing the title of their schools, instead of their province of origin.

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Princess ISABELITA DE LOS REYES, St. Theresa’s College

Pacita’s closest rival was a very pretty mestiza with a distinguished lineage—Isabelita de los Reyes. She was one of the daughters of Don Isabelo de los Reyes, “Father of Philippine Socialism” and founder of the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipay Church). Isabelita’s mother, Don Isabelo’s second wife, was a pure Spaniard from Madrid. At the homestretch, however, Isabelita withdrew from the contest due to the expressed disapproval of certain nuns from her school, leaving Pacita to win in a lopsided victory.

As it turned out, this objection was only true for the Miss Philippines title. The nuns feared that if Isabelita won, her studies would suffer. Isabelita amassed enough votes to be a runner-up, a position that had lesser obligations. Isabelita thus consented to be one of 4 maids of honor. In later years, Isabelita married Jose Barredo, the first Mr. Philippines and a noted tenor.

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Princess BEATRICE VILLANUEVA, Sta. Rosa College

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Princess ILUMINADA PEREZ, Centro Escolar De Señoritas

In the search of the fairest Escolarina to vie for the 1927 Miss Philippines title, two names stood out—Luisa Marasigan and Iluminada Perez of Batangas. Luisa eventually pipped Iluminada as the official school bet, but two years later, Iluminada carried the hopes of her college in the Third National Beauty Contest. She figured well and was elected as one of the princesses of the 1929 Miss Philippines.

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Princess DOLORES SANTAMARIA, Manila College of Pharmacy

56. 1929, Miss Philippines of the Manila Carnival, PACITA ONGSIAKO DE LOS REYES

1929 MISS PHILIPPINES. The toast of the State University, Pacita de los Reyes, was one of the most accomplished queens of our Carnival years. She became a lawyer and placed in the Top Ten of bar topnotchers.

Much to the dismay of Carnival fans, no Manila Carnival was held in 1928 due to funding problems. The Carnival before proved to be too expensive to launch and stage what with the transport and billeting of candidates from the different provinces. Moreover, the newspaper balloting method—which was a major source of Carnival income--had been scrapped.

THE PRIDE OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY. Pacita, in one of her ternos especially designed by Pacita Longos, the leading couturier of her time.

When the Philippine Carnival Association convened to mount the 1929 Manila Carnival, the officials agreed to be more cost-efficient by using the student pool of colleges and universities to search for viable candidates. From these delegates, a Miss Philippines would be chosen, by paid balloting.

GRECIAN GODDESS. Pacita, in one of her official portraits, dressed in her coronation gown.

The schools were quick to cooperate—and the state university, no less, strategized a selection process for their official bet. The loveliest co-eds were invited to an afternoon tea by U.P. president, Rafael Palma, with the various deans in attendance, including Prof. Guillermo Tolentino of the College of Fine Arts. Little did the coeds know that the affair was a preliminary judging of sorts. In the second meeting, Palma called on one of the ladies, law student Pacita de los Reyes y Ongsiako, to inform her that she was the official candidate of the University of the Philippines to the Third National Beauty Contest.

GOWNED AND CROWNED. Pacita in her coronation gown designed by famed couturier Pacita Longos. The bodice was trimmed with thousands of seed pearls.

Pacita was born in 1912, in Tondo, Manila, the daughter of Manuel de los Reyes and Paz Ongsiako, members of Manila’s alta sociedad. ‘Ting’ was educated at the Meisic Primary School and finished her high school at the Holy Ghost College. Applying at the state university’s College of Liberal Arts, she got the highest mark from among 115 applicants. She became a popular campus figure and was even named as a secretary of the Junior Philippine Senate, and elite group of top debaters, orators and honor students that included Ambrosio Padilla and Arturo Tolentino.

BEAUTY STANDING TALL. Pacita, at 5'6', was taller than most Filipinas in her time, and her physical beauty stood out during the Miss Philippines selection.

The 1929 Miss U.P. was quite a stunner, what with her beauty, intelligence and a tall 5’6” frame. These qualities were not lost with the public and the judges during the Miss Philippines finals. Pacita de los Reyes became our third Miss Philippines. Her victory was reported even in foreign publications, and Pacita’s father, who had live awhile in France, learned of her triumph from a Parisian newspaper.

BEAUTY AND BRAINS. Pacita was a campus standout at the University of the Philippines-College of Law.

Instead of a court consisting of 3 regional winners, Pacita had 4 ‘damas de honor’ or princesses led by Isabelita de los Reyes (St. Theresa’s College), Beatrice Villanueva (Sta. Rosa College), Iluminada Perez (Centro Escolar de Señoritas) and Dolores Sta. Maria (Manila College of Pharmacy). She won P2,000 in cash while her princesses were awarded P1,000 each.

GRAND CORONATION NIGHT. "Pearl of the Orient Seas" was the the evening motif, and all the sea deities--headed by Neptune--came to participate in the crowning of Pacita.

Pacita found herself the toast of the 16-day Carnival festivities, gracing nightly affairs—Proclamation Night, Coronation Night, Miss Philippines Night, Comparsa Night and the U.P. Night-- with different assigned escorts. Most special to her was the U.P. Night where a “Pageant of Agriculture” play was written by Carlos P. Romulo to honor the school’s queen, who appeared as the Goddess of Agriculture. Her Coronation Night, in which she appeared as “Miss Pearl of the Orient Seas”, had a Grecian theme. For this extraordinary evening, she wore a Pacita Longos gown, accented with pearls, lace and a long train from her shoulders.

MISS PHILIPPINES MEET MISS AMERICA. Pacita greets Miss America of 1926, Mary Campbell during her Manila visit.

Another special moment was Pacita’s meeting of the 1926 Miss America, Mary Campbell and Hollywood actors Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and George O’Brien. For a 17 year old, Pacita’s reign as 1929 Miss Philippines must have been a magical, unforgettable experience. But all good things had to end, and when the Carnival was over, Pacita busied herself back with her studies. She earned a Bachelor of Laws, took the bar and placed seventh. Thus began her stellar professional law career. She also taught law subjects at the University of Manila, Holy Ghost College and Far Eastern University. In between, she found time to finish Bachelor of Science in Diplomacy.

PACITA AT THE FLORAL PARADE. Paz participates in the traditional floral parade of the 1929 Manila Carnival.

She also was engaged in various socio-civic activities—from the CWL, Elks Cerebral Palsy to the Community Chest. She also became a president of U.P. Women Lawyers’ Circle (WILOCI) while serving as a director in their various family enterprises. She even supplemented her past Miss Philippines title by winning the “Most Popular Woman of the Philippines” contest of the TVT publications in 1937. Her prize included all-expense paid trips to China and Japan--with 19 of her friends.


During the War, Pacita lived in the De Los Reyes ancestral home in Caloocan and contributed to the guerrilla effort. When the Americans liberated the Philippines, she met Dr. Ralph Phillips of Columbus, Ohio, a decorated American surgeon of the 37th Division. They were married in January 1953.

In 1957, Pacita launched her political career by running under Recto’s party for a senatorial position. Just a year later, the storybook romance of Phillips-de los Reyes came to an end when the couple agreed to separate amicably for reasons known only to them. Pacita continued practicing law in her Makati office. The “all-time Filipino charmer, whose spell has endured for years”, died in 2004 and is interred at the Santuario de San Antonio at Forbes Park, Makati.