THE CARNIVAL ENDS.

It's been a long journey from the day I picked up my first Manila Carnival photo--in Bangkok,Thailand, of all places, to starting this blog--and which culminated in the publication of a pictorial history book of titled Pampanga beauties. I hope, dear readers, that you have been entertained and informed through my postings. But alas, even good things have to end. Thank you to all my blog visitors and friends whom I've met along the way, including descendants of beauty queens featured here, fellow collectors, historians and beauty fans.

My Manila Carnival writing will live on, not just in this blog, but also in my book--"ARO, KATIMYAS DA! A Memory Album of Kapampangan beauties 1908-2012", a finalist in this year's National Book Awards, Leisure Category. It is available at the Holy Angel University, Angeles University (0458888691, ask for Center for Kapampangan Studies), or you can course your book orders through me . 

Again, salamat po, it's been 6 wonderful, beautiful years!

200. 1924-1925 ANGELES CARNIVAL

QUEEN OF THE ANGELES CARNIVAL OF 1924. Rosario Hernandez Panganiban of Macabebe, was, at one time, a resident of Culiat. The multi-titled Charing remains the most celebrated beauty of Pampanga to this day. Dated Aug. 1924.

The town of Angeles, by the 1920s was enjoying some relative prosperity, a far cry from the wild land that it once was in 1796, when Don Angel Pantaleon de Miranda and wife Rosalia de Jesus, cleared the place known then as Culiat. As part of San Fernando, Culiat was recognized as a town in 8 December 1829, and from that moment on, there was no stopping Angeles’s progress.

In 1920, the airport at Fort Stotsenburg was opened, and two years after, the 1st modern ice plant was put up in the town. In 1923, 20th century progress came to Angeles when the Angeles Electric Light and Power Plant started its operations. Indeed, things were looking up for the town and when the Americans put up the 1st national fair that was the Manila Carnival, Angeles was quick to support the festivities, fielding its best band to the music competitions which eventually won the top prize.

In August 1924, a local town carnival was held, and we only have a handful of pictures documenting the event. Surprisingly, the event was not reported in the historical compilations of Mariano V. Henson, who is acknowledged as the foremost historian of Angeles and Pampanga. Other municipalities of Pampanga were invited to set up booths and showcase their agricultural, commercial and industrial produce—just like the way things were done in the national carnival. The towns were also encouraged to send in their delegates to vie for the Angeles Carnival Queen.

Reigning as Queen of the Angeles Carnival was Pampanga’s most celebrated beauty queen, Rosario H. Panganiban of Macabebe. The Philippine Women’s College beauty would go on to clinch more important titles in the next two years—1926 Miss Philippines of Free Press and 1926 Miss Pampanga to the 1st National Beauty Contest. At her coronation, the lovely Charing was whisked around Angeles in a car, in a fancy floral parade.

Not much is known about the 1924 Angeles Carnival except the fact that there was a repeat the next year, in February of 1925. prefaced a bigger provincial event—the 1925 Pampanga Carnival—where Rosario, once again, reigned as queen.

193. Queen of the 1926 Pampanga Carnival: JUANITA S. ARRASTIA of Lubao

ARRESTING BEAUTY, Juanita Arrastia, Miss Pampanga 1926, had Basque and Filipino blood in her veins. She and husband, Dr. Wenceslao Vitug, continued to manage the hacienda left by her father, the richest hacendero of Lubao, and were known for their compassion and generosity in their treatment of their tenants.

Juanita Arrastia was a 24 year old beauty from Lubao when local organizers approached her mother, Francisca Salgado, to seek approval for her candidacy to the provincial fair. Her mother, in turn, referred them to Juanita’s father, Valentin Arrastia, who grumbled and showed no interest at the project. Unfazed, the organizers returned to plead with him. One day, tired of their implorings, he threw his arms in the air to dismiss them, and, walking away, exclaimed "Vanidades del mundo! (Vanities of the world!) They took that as a 'yes'.

Thus, Juanita became Lubao’s official bet to Pampanga’s royalty quest. The Arrastias descended from Basque adventurers from Spain who settled in the Philippines and found fortune in the vast agricultural lands they accumulated and farmed. Juanita’s father himself, was the richest hacendero in Lubao. It came as no surprise that she won the crown.

Many years later, when a granddaughter asked her about her beauty queen years, she knitted her brows, pursed her lips, gave her a side glance, and said in Kapampangan, "I won because my father had the biggest hacienda in Lubao. It wasn't about beauty."

But if truth be told, the Arrastia women were legendary for their beauty. “No one can be more beautiful than the Arrastia women”, one Philippine society observer even noted (Isabel Arrastia Preysler, former model and wife of Julio Iglesias, mother of Enrique and who latter married into Spanish royalty, came from the Arrastias of Lubao.)

At her proclamation, the lovely Juanita wore a glittery baro’t saya with a long train, attended by her two damas, Miss San Fernando and Miss Apalit. Military officials, young court pages, town muses and the governor of Pampanga shared the coronation stage with her. Her King Consort was her town mate, the dashing 22 year old Gregorio (Yoyong) Fernandez, then a freshman dentistry student at the Philippine Dental. Gregorio was also her 3rd cousin from the Salgado-Montemayor side of the family. He would go on to become a top actor and award-winning director and the father of the late action star, Rudy Fernandez. As a director, Gregorio is also credited with discovering Rogelio dela Rosa.

Juanita surprised everyone by getting married on 15 May 1926—just a few months after being named Miss Pampanga-- to Dr. Wenceslao Beltran Vitug (b. 28 Sept. 1891). Wenceslao (Apung Beses) came from a barrio of Arrastia sharecroppers, but news of his brilliance had made him a town celebrity of sorts. He overcame his humble beginnings by graduating at the head of his class at the Pampanga High School. He earned a medical degree from the University of the Philippines, practiced at the Philippine General Hospital and taught Medicine at his alma mater.

The marriage of Juanita to a ‘commoner’ who made good was big news in Lubao, where they settled and became hacenderos themselves, noted for their compassion and kindness to tenants. It was said that Dr. Vitug personally treated sick tenants while Juanita cared for the welfare of their families, even extending interest-free loans. The couple themselves were blessed with 7 children: Lourdes (Lulu), Amelia Juana (Melly) , Maria Magdalena (Nena), Antonio Jesus (Tony, a medical doctor), Luis Lamberto (died young, of bone cancer), Mario Venerando (died of aneurysm), and Roberto Nicolas (Bert).

The Vitugs would eventually settle in Manila , living long, full lives surrounded by the love of their children and grandkids. Wenceslao passed away in 7 January 1986 at age 94, while Juanita died in 8 September 1994. Their old Lubao house was acquired by an architect and had it transported to a seaside town of Bagac in Bataan where it is now part of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.

181. Carnival Beauties: SOFIA LOTA, Miss Cotabato 1926

SOFIA'S CHOICE. Sofia Lota, 'an exotic find from the untamed regions of Cotabato", assuming a film star pose in 1926.

One of the most daring beauties ever to grace the Manila Carnival was a woman who went by the formidable name Sofia Lota Rinagandu Magadi Sinambel Malibutang. Surprisingly, she came all the way from Cotabato, where religious conservatism was held in esteem. When she came to Manila, she was touted as a “Muslim with royal blood in her veins” and her bio-data likewise listed her accomplishments: a dancing girl, a former nursing student, and a school teacher.

Sofia’s name and picture, however, does not appear in the omnibus photo of the Manila Carnival contestants issued in 1926. Whether she competed or not, Sofia Lota (or Lotta), billed as “an exotic find from the untamed regions of Cotabato”, went on to becomea nationally famous personality when she joined the movies shortly after the Carnival of 1926.

She, along with other candidates, had been invited by Vicente Salumbides, the American-trained actor and director, to drop by at his studio. He was in the process of casting new faces for the movie projects he had been lining up for production. Sure enough, the beautiful Sofia caught the eye of the director, who cast her in his 1927 movie, Fate or Consequence with Gregorio Fernandez.

Sofia was a natural in front of the camera, and the next year, she found herself appearing with Vicente himself in the movie “The Soul Saver”, which featured a a very rare screen kiss. At the time of the making of the movie, Vicente had a fiancée—Rosario H. Panganiban, Miss Pampanga 1926, who had competed against Sofia in the national carnival. During the filming of the kissing scene—then sensational in its time—Rosario was there to witness the on-screen osculation—take after take. Right there and then, Rosario decided to marry Vicente in a fit of jealousy.

The vampish beauty created quite a stir with her screen performances. Leading magazines like Graphic and Free Press took note of the "Moro girl making good in the movies". Right after finishing "The Soul Saver", Sofia was paired again with the dashing Gregorio Fernandez in the classic hit, “Lumang Simbahan” written by Florentino Collantes and directed by Jose Nepomuceno for Malayan Films. She was the ill-fated Julita to Gregorio’s Rodolfo. Again, it featured a mouth-to-mouth kissing scene with his leading man, and by this time, Sofia seemed to be very much comfortable doing the smoldering scene. "Excellent work by every member of the cast distinguishes it as a drama of genuine merit. But it is Sofia Lotta who is the star", reported The Tribune and Herald on the acting of Miss Cotabato. The Times gushed, "The work of the youthful star, in fact, does much to establish the picture as a masterpiece of stirring, moving melodrama. Her part alone makes the picture worth seeing".

She did one more film, "Ang Mutya ng Pamilihan" in 1929, where Francisco Varona, a member of the Philippine Carnival Association, made a cameo role. Sofia Lota became one of the top stars of a generation of artists in the early 30s that included Naty Fernandez, Gregorio Fernandez, Maggie Galloway, Dimples Cooper, Eva Lyn, Carlos Padilla, Eduardo de Castro, Nena Linda, and Giorgina Hollis.

131. Carnival Beauties: ROSARIO L. MANUEL, 1927 Miss Pampanga

ROSARIO MANUEL, Miss Pampanga 1927. A beauty of renown from Bacolor, made it to the national finals of the 1927 edition of the Manila Carnival.

True to its title as the “Athens of Pampanga”, Bacolor was not just a cradle of culture, it was also the seat of beauty, echoing the fabled reputation of Greece as the land of beautiful goddesses--Hera, Aphrodite and Athena—who figured in perhaps, the 1st documented beauty pageant of ancient times, as judged by Paris.

Bacolor belles like Luz Sarmiento, Paz Sanchez, Consuelo Santos and Elisa Gutierrez were regarded as the town muses in the mid 1920s-1930s. A more notable titled beauty however was Rosario Manuel, crowned Miss Pampanga 1927. She was the daughter of Generoso Manuel and Gliceria Lacsamana of Cabambangan, now the town’s poblacion.

With her victory, Rosario (Chayong) gained the right to represent the province in the 2nd National Beauty Contest sponsored by The Philippine Free Press. Doe-eyed Rosario went to Manila for the competition to make her bid for the Miss Philippines crown. It was a tall order for Rosario, as among the previous year’s winners was a kabalen—Socorro Henson of Angeles, who reigned as Manila’s Carnival Queen of 1926.

In the 1927 edition held from February 12 to 27, 28 beauties from around the country participated. Two of the contenders that year were Amelia Romualdez, Miss Leyte, who bore a striking resemblance to her first cousin, Imelda Romualdez and fellow Kapampangan, Luz Besa of Tarlac. The judges were reminded that “in the selection of the most beautiful ladies, (you) shall consider, besides physical beauty, the personal charms and the general refinement and composure of candidates”.

In the end, Luisa Marasigan, Miss Manila, won as Miss Philippines. Her court included Miss Luzon, Iluminada Laurel (Batangas), Miss Visayas, Lourdes Rodriguez (Cebu) and Miss Mindanao, Nora Maulana (Sulu). Even then, Rosario Manuel’s beauty was immortalized in a special commemorative booklet issued by Free Press magazine. Rosario Manuel settled back in Bacolor, remaining unmarried and adopting young relatives to serve as companions for the rest of her life.

126. THE 1933 PAMPANGA CARNIVAL

ARO KATIMYAS DA DENING DALAGA!. The official candidates for the Miss Pampanga title in the 1933 Pampanga Carnival Fair and Exposition, San Fernando, Pampanga.

In 1933, Kapampangans held their grandest event ever, to celebrate the progressive stride made by Pampanga in the two previous decades. From 22 April to 6 May 1933, the Pampanga Carnival Fair and Exposition—“the greatest concourse of people on the island of Luzon”--was held at the Capitol grounds in San Fernando.

The much-awaited selection of Miss Pampanga 1933 provided the climax of the fair. Pampanga’s leading muses, most from socially prominent families. First, each town had to select its own “Miss Municipality” to compete in the provincial pageant. Socio-civic and youth groups like Mountainside, Circulo Escenico, Kayanikan ning Kuliat and Aficionados Baculud helped in drawing up a beauty list from which the loveliest was chosen. Not unlike contemporary pageants marked by sourgraping and backstage dramas, the Miss Pampanga search had its share of controversies.

First, the selection criteria was put in question. Following the Manila Carnival style of selection, Miss Pampanga was to be chosen based on newspaper ballots cast in her favor. A leading Kapampangan newspaper, “Ing Cabbling”, put out an editorial that cautioned using “social influence”, rather than physical beauty , as basis for judging. It even went as far as recommending an ideal mix of judges to make the selection truly impartial and objective, a panel to include a painter or sculptor, a poet, a high society lady, a professional and a respected elder from the province.

Then there was the case of a town muse who, in the voting, was boycotted by her own town mates because of her perceived snobbishness and haughty demeanor. In one tabulation, she gathered zero votes. Despite these minor issues, the contestants had a great time as they were feted and paraded about in motorcades. In the end, it was the slim and svelte Miss San Fernando, Corazon Hizon who romped off with the title.

The titled town beauties included the following:

MISS ANGELES, Maria Agustina Pilar Nepomuceno. (b. 13 October 1911-d. 5 June 1995) Daughter of Gonzalo Mariano Nepomuceno and Gertrudes Ayson y Cunanan. Not much is remembered about her reign or the circumstances of her victory. Later married noted doctor, Conrado Manankil y Tison. They have 4 children, one of whom—Marieta Manankil (now Mercado)—continued the tradition of beauty in her family by becoming Miss Angeles 1955.

MISS APALIT. Lina Espiritu

MISS BACOLOR. Luz Sarmiento. (b. 23 July 1914-d. Aug. 1988) to Laureano Sarmiento and Ines Lugue. Studied at the local St. Mary’s Academy, then attended Assumption Academy in neighboring San Fernando for her higher education. Became Pampanga’s entry to the 1934 Manila Carnival. After the contest, settled down as wife to Jose Gregorio Panlilio y Santos-Joven, in April 1934. An only child, Jesus Nazareno a year later. The couple made their home in their beloved Bacolor, where Luz propagated a lifelong devotion to Nuestra Sñra. del Rosario.

MISS CANDABA. Marina Reyes

MISS GUAGUA. Quintina Lapira

MISS LUBAO. Cornelia Flores

MISS MABALACAT, Pacita Sese. (b. 1916-d. 21 Aug. 2004) Daughter of the town treasurer, Andres Sese and Justina de Guzman. Graduate of Instituto de Mujeres. Married Mauro Feliciano of San Fernando.

MISS MACABEBE. Paciencia Gomez

MISS MAGALANG. Belen Gueco. Daughter of Lorenzo C. Gueco, a successful doctor, sugar planter, business man and PASUDECO stockholder and Elena Aquino. Her elder sister Paz was also a noted town beauty. Schooled at St. Paul’s Institute, Manila. She was an active and popular member of Rho Alpha and Nucleo Solteril. Her candidacy was supported by the Mountainside Club, headed by Jose Luciano, but pulled out of the provincial contest after some controversy. Nevertheless, she was feted house-to-house by her proud kabalens, who were rumored to have withdrawn their support for her. Later married Jose Tinsay.

MISS MASANTOL. Maria Guinto. Later married Artemio Manansala with whom she had 7 children, mostly U.S. based. Died 1969 of cancer.

MISS MEXICO. Candida Nuqui. A student of Sta. Rosa College in Manila when elected as town beauty.

MISS MINALIN. Benita Mercado

MISS SAN FERNANDO. Corazon Hizon (WINNER). Daughter Corazon Hizon of San Fernando, the daughter of Maria Paras and Jose Hizon. After her reign, the lovely Corazon, the toast of the Pampanga Carnival, married Marcelino Dizon also of San Fernando. They settled in the town they loved best and raised 9 children, all daughters—Monica, Maria Teresa, Maria Corazon, Lidia, Encarnacion, Concepcion, Maria Asuncion and Josefina. Monica’s daughter with Marcelino Enriquez, Maria Lourdes, continued the beauty tradition in the family by becoming Bb. Pilipinas- International 1987.

MISS STA. RITA. Juana Amio

MISS SEXMOAN. Marta Pinlac

117. Carnival Beauties: ROSARIO PANGANIBAN, 1926 Miss Pampanga

QUEEN CHARING. Rosario Panganiban in her official Miss Pampanga photo, for the 1926 Manila Carnival. A popular beauty, she was also elected Miss Philippines of the leading national magazine, The Free Press. Dated 1925.

Rosario Hernandez Panganiban or Charing, holds the distinction of being the first ever girl to wear the Miss Pampanga title. Born on 30 May 1904 in Macabebe, Charing’s eye-catching beauty was apparent even in her college days when, in 1924, she was chosen as Miss Centro Escolar University of 1924. The next year, she was voted as Miss Philippine Free Press, chosen from over two thousand photographs of the most beautiful Filipinas of that time. Then, in the province’s 1st ever Carnival held in Angeles in 1925, Charing was named Miss Pampanga. At her coronation, she wore a crown of sampaguitas instead of traditional rhinestones and was feted around the town with a motorcade.

As Miss Pampanga, Rosario was sent to compete in the 1st National Beauty Contest of 1926, a parallel pageant of the Manila Carnival. Another Kapampangan from Tarlac, Isolina Palma was a fellow contender. The provincial candidates roomed with selected families in Manila for the duration of the contest activities. One of the official functions Rosario and the rest of the candidates attended was a tea danzant hosted by the Bachelors Club, held at the Hotel de Francia, then one of the premier hotels located at the corner of Avenida Rizal and Plaza Goiti.

An evening parade followed, with the beauties riding in flower-decorated cars. The motorcade wended its way through Avenida, Azcarraga, Legarda, Escolta, Taft Avenue until it reached its final destination, the Manila Grand Carnival Auditorium at the Luneta. Here, the candidates transferred to their own lighted “chariots”, each bearing the name of their respective provinces. They were then wheeled around the auditorium to be viewed by the crowd and the judges who rendered their decision in a secret balloting.

Thus, by this process, the very first ever Miss Philippines was chosen. The coveted title went to a Batangueña, Anita Noble. Miss Noble boasts of an illustrious pedigree with a score of patriots and heroes on both sides of her families that included the Agoncillos. (Three decades later, Anita’s daughter by Juan Nakpil, Edith Nakpil, would become Miss Philippines 1955). A separate title, Miss Pearl of the Orient Seas, was given to Zamboanga’s bet, Carmen Fargas, who tied twice with Miss Noble, going into the finals.


Rosario took her loss in stride as more exciting things were happening in her young life. While still a campus coed, Rosario found her true love in Vicente Salumbides, a budding filmographer from Lopez, Quezon. They met through Vicente’s niece, Nanita, who was a classmate of Rosario, then just recently-proclaimed campus queen. Salumbides studied acting and directing in Hollywood then later took up Law at the University of Southern California. In 1924, Vicente formed a movie production outfit together with Jose Nepomuceno.

When the Manila Carnival of 1926 ended, Vicente convinced some of the candidates to appear in his films—including Muslim princess and former Miss Cotabato, Sofia Lota (real name: Pinaganda Magadi Sinambal Malibatang). In a scene from the movie “Fate or Consequence”, Vicente had to engage Sofia in a passionate embrace. Rosario, who would also appear in Vicente’s next film, was livid. “When I saw you (Vicente) kissing Miss Cotabato”, Rosario recalled, I suffered the worst feeling of jealousy although we were not engaged at that time. I don’t want to experience another attack of that sort. It’s better to be away from temptation”.

She finally married the famed director in 1927 with Jacobo Fajardo and First Lady Dña. Aurora Aurora Quezon as sponsors (Later in 1939, Dña Aurora became a partner in Salumbides Film Co. Ltd.). Charing’s uncle, Don Emiliano J. Valdez walked the bride to the altar. The marriage was officiated by Rev. Fr. Selga (director of the Weather Bureau) at the Church of St. Vincent de Paul in Malate. Vicente filmed their wedding which became the basis of the movie, “The Soul Saver”, in reference to Charing’s conversion of the agnostic Vicente to Catholicism. Their union bore 8 children: Thelma (+), Vilma (+), Nida, Marlene (+), Ruby, Vicente Jr., Rizalina and Florante (+).


Certainly one of the most photographed beauties of her time, Rosario appeared in photo spreads on major Philippine magazines such as Liwayway. She was also featured in the Free Press Album of Filipina Beauties, a tribute to the country’s fairest ladies of 1926-27. A bust in her likeness was also cast in bronze by noted sculptor, Guillermo Tolentino. Rosario, our 1st Miss Pampanga, passed away on 14 September 1969.

It is interesting to note that a famous relation of Rosario is the actress Yolanda Marquez (Mary Hernandez in real life), who was a featured player in Salumbides’ “Milagro Ng Nazareno”. She is more popularly known as Mary Prieto.