Just months after claiming the overall championship title of Siglakas 2022, the College of Dentistry has found another reason to celebrate.
Now that the University is gradually shifting back to hosting face-to-face events, the long-awaited year-end celebration of the Festival of Lights 2022 has finally made a comeback along with the highly-anticipated Miss SWU PHINMA, after a two-year hiatus due to the restraints posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eleven glamorous candidates from each college competed to seize the most coveted title of Miss SWU PHINMA last December 9, 2022, at the University Coliseum.
Apple Mae D. Añana, hailing from the College of Dentistry, was proclaimed the new queen after her outstanding performances in each segment of the pageant.
In the Question-and-Answer portion, Añana was asked by an international student, “How different would the world be if women ruled the world?” to which Añana responded: “We women are full of sacrifices. If we rule the world, I think that this world will be built with a foundation of love, [and] courage, and it will be full of dreams for the betterment of everybody.”
“We women, we are bold, we are empowered, and that we can truly rule the world,” she emphasized.
On her personal Facebook account, she revealed how she has always dreamt of vying to compete in the Miss SWU PHINMA as a representative of her college department.
“It was during my freshmen days when I first witnessed Miss SWU PHINMA. I was part of the audience, cheering for our bet, but I told myself that night, ‘One day, I will be competing on that stage.’ Little did I know, my time really came,” she wrote in her post.
In an exclusive interview with The Quill, Añana expressed that her college department was her biggest motivation in competing for the crown.
“My biggest motivation is the Dentistry department. They’ve been so supportive [of] me since day one,” Añana said.
She prided that this year belonged to the College of Dentistry.
“And you know, [Dentistry] is home of the champions. It’s the year of Dentistry!” she added.
Añana was also awarded Miss Congeniality and bagged the Best in Production Number as her special award.
Sarah Francine F. Restauro from the College of Optometry and Shandey F. Belarmino from the School of Business placed first and second runners-up, respectively.
