Teresita Ssen Marquez’s (aka Winwyn Marquez) win at Reina Hispanoamericana 2017 came as a pleasant surprise for the Filipino pageant lovers this year. She was the first ever representative Hispanic-American pageant and she did it for Philippines in the first go itself.
Just after Nelda Ibe of Philippines became the first runner-up in the Miss Globe 2017 on 3rd November 2017 and Karen Ibasco of Philippines won the title of Miss Earth 2017 on 4th November 2017, Winwyn’s success at Reina Hispanoamericana 2017 on 5th November 2017 brought a hundred watt smile on Philippines’ natives.
She could have been a movie star, model or a dancer, but she chose to be a beauty queen. She believes that as a beauty queen, you can do all the above things but at the same time a pageant gives you a platform to speak. She loves speaking and helping people and this is what she wants to do through her crown.
What this beauty learned from her time in beauty pageants is to be resilient. She received a lot of bashing from the people after she was crowned for Reina Hispanoamericana 2017 in Binibining Pilipinas 2017. Taking all the hate in a positive light, she just learned to accept herself more, to grow more and to learn more. The whole experience made her more determined to achieve something and show everyone that Yes, I can do it and I have it in me.
It would surprise you that after a few days of the Reina Hispanoamericana 2017 start, she wanted to just give up and come back. She found herself crying at night because it was not easy for her to communicate with the competing girls. All of them knew how to speak Spanish, but Winwyn could not, so it was becoming more difficult for her pop-up. But things changed after the Talent round, when she surprised everyone with her dance moves, performing both traditional Philippines dance form and also doing some amazing Latin moves. She found her confidence coming back after that.
People thrashed her with criticism to spread the Spanish culture and tradition and not Philippines’. She pointed out very correctly that which culture is being promoted, whether Philippines or Spanish, is not important but rather what the culture teaches is what the core matter is. This is also reflected in her winning answer at the finale night. She was asked: "How would you promote Hispanic-American culture with the great difficulty or barrier of language?"
To this, she responded,
“Language can be learned, but the will and determination to contribute something to the organization cannot. It has to come from the heart and it has to be natural. I believe that kindness is a universal language – that if you treat people with tolerance, patience, and love, you will understand each other. The Hispanic culture is not about language only. It's about love for God, love for country, love for history and culture, and love for family. I'm ready to promote the Hispanic culture, not just in Asia but in the whole world. It is time to celebrate the Hispanic culture. It is meant to be celebrated."