IT COULDN'T BE HELPED that Vicky Belo's talk on Filipina beauty was dominated by a presentation of her clinic services, as well as by the spirited personality which has made her into a prominent media darling, on top of being the country's top plastic surgeon.
But before the jokes and the prizes and before-and-after shots of regular and celebrity patients alike, it was Vicky's introduction that really made an impression on me. Almost.
Flashing images of celebrated local actresses, Dra. Belo, as she is colloquially known, examined their common physical characteristics that make Filipinos regard them as the country's most beautiful: fair skin, round eyes, high nose and oval face, features typical in individuals of Fil-Hispanic descent.
She then presented images of Filipino beauty queens to represent what the rest of the world consider beautiful: dark skin, slanty eyes, small nose, characteristics shared by beauty pageant titlists Miriam Quiambao, Gloria Diaz and Venus Raj.
I was half-ready to shed off insecurities over being dark and button-nosed. Except the next slide featured an average Filipina, followed by a slide of her greatly improved by Vicky Belo. And how much more beautiful she supposedly looks.
So I guess over here, the fairest of them all will remain to be, literally, the most fair of them all.
Carré Blanc by Eric Marrian, www.marrian.fr
