MARI ANGELI MAGBANUA – CAVITE
Age: 28 y/o | Height: 5 ft 3 in | Occupation: Senior Medical Officer
If we were to personify sophisticated femininity, this girl definitely fits the bill. She is a woman of substance who has proven herself in attaining her self-set goals in both her career and personal life. “I’ve learned how to become tough, independent, focused and driven when it comes to reaching for my goals. I’ve had my own share of failures and bumps growing up. But right now, I am at the peak of everything – my hard work all these years has been paying off.” Mari Angeli Magbanua is a registered nurse. On top of that, holds a Master’s degree under her belt and currently works for UK based insurance company BUPA Arabia as Senior Medical Officer. She is very passionate about books and loves traveling. She also loves cooking and singing and playing the guitar. Whenever this binibini is free from her highly demanding job, she would either spend it having quality time with her boyfriend or indulge in her sometimes hard to come by but well-deserved me-time to catch up on her books, TV series, and movies, house chores, and most importantly, her skincare rituals. With everything that goes on around her, her family-oriented nature is at the center of it as this binibini candidate is an ideal daughter and a responsible big sister to her only male sibling. ‘Seeing my Nanay and Tatay proud of the woman I’ve become,’ she shares, inspires her to do more and beyond. For this feisty beauty from Cavite, she can confidently say she is a strong person because she has realized she can outwit any predicament that has or may come her way.
What is your hometown in the Philippines and tell us something about it?
The Province of Cavite
“Cavite is my hometown. A land rich in scenery and has played a huge part in Philippine history, thus, it was hailed ‘the historical capital of the Philippines’. It is where our independence from years of colonization by many foreign countries was declared. It is a picturesque province, a major point of tourism, wherein you can visit the famous Aguinaldo shrine, Sangley point, Zapote Bridge; furthermore, the most popular Tagaytay, which is the main tourist center of the province – known for its cooler climate, and amazing overlooking vantage points of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano because it is situated at a higher altitude.
The people in Cavite, the Caviteños, are known to possess a strong personality; they are known for being a ‘fighter’ or in Filipino, “palaban” “walang inuurungan at kinatatakutan” (retreats to nobody and is afraid of no one) Often times, other people will misunderstand this connotation but they just know how to protect themselves and their loved ones along with their possessions and they stand up for what they believe in. Given the kind of part that this town has played in our history, it is expected that the roots of the people who reside here will remain the same. Caviteños are also loud, friendly, funny and very welcoming. Caviteñean food is also awesome. Amongst the few popular ones are the ‘bacalao’ (salted codfish), ‘pansit puso’, ‘pipian’ and a delicacy called ‘bibingkoy’. Some years ago, some areas of Cavite were still populated with rice fields, now, villages and malls have been built on almost every town giving the province a more urbanized feel. Given the proximity of the province to Manila, people who are working there would prefer to buy lots and houses and stay in Cavite instead.”
Why do you think you deserve to win the title of Binibining Turismo Filipinas KSA 2018?
“I remember Pia Wurtzbach’s life story and I quote, ‘An extraordinary man creates a big difference by his/her hard work.’ This is not my first time to join this kind of competition and just like Pia, she has failed thrice before she got the crown. With a lot of people pushing and believing in me that I truly deserve to win this time and that I know, it is the right time to give justice to these people’s efforts and the time after having been given many opportunities to showcase myself and my abilities that have strengthened my will and have proven that I am worthy to win the title.”
FAME and GBB Turismo Filipinas 2018 would like to thank the following:
Headline Sponsor: Sarawat Superstores
Other Sponsors:
Pinoy Tambayan Photographers and Friends
Jon Soriano (header image credits)
Lilay Gamboa-Ting
Max Ray Bauzon
Dino De Leon
Markus Alcantara
Joey Soriano
Jace Domingo for Jace’s Portraits
