Married to Miss Universe

Of all the unpleasant things said of the Pinoy macho, this one hurts (the truth always does): that we don’t quite deserve our women. Filipino women have been winning beauty pageants left and right, laying legitimate claim to the title of being the most beautiful on Earth. And where does that leave us Filipino men?

Somewhere lagging behind, and consumed with insecurity. More often than not underheight, overweight and supersensitive, the Pinoy male is too inadequate to decently compete in even the most obscure contest intended to celebrate manly beauty. Okay, we know that male pageants are not really as big a deal as what Miss Universe has become, so there are far less chances for the men to shine. But even then, even the staunchest defenders of “Poging Pinoy” must concede that we are woefully behind “Gandang Pinay” in the mythical quest for beauty. Perhaps we should just concede that there is no hope for us men to catch up.

Which is why we Filipino men should thank God for consolation prizes, and always remember that we never had it so good. By God’s merciful grace, we happen to live closest to these beautiful women when they could be as unreachable as the stars. Call it the attraction of opposites, but fate seems to reserve for ugly-duckling Pinoys out there the one great chance of finding a Miss Universe, and of the gods conspiring to make her become the answer to his prayers, the beauty to his beast.

Those lucky Pinoys are not exactly Mr. Right, but they are always at the right place at the right time, walking the same ground and breathing the same air as the gorgeous Pinays. We meet these beauties in the streets, rub elbows with them in cramped passenger jeepneys, eat next to them at some fast food joint, go to the same school, or work at the same office. And if Lady Luck smiles, we even get to marry one of them.

Filipino women are beautiful inside and out. The physical beauty is just a small part of the totality of virtues they are designed by nature to radiate. They are the masterpiece of evolution, produced from centuries of Western and other Asian genes delicately infused into native beauty. And when physical charms outlive their shelf life, their grace and character still shine and survive, preserving their enduring inner beauty.

Most importantly, Filipino women have imbibed the best human traits to be the perfect mate through thick and thin, to survive every storm with a smile, and to endure the vicissitudes of life lived with a less than perfect man.

“They complete us,” to paraphrase Jerry Maguire. They see something that others don’t and refuse to give up on their men. They choose to be generous in giving a second, third, or as many chances as we need to finally get it right. They soothe our doubts with faith and make us realize the simple truth that if we put our heart into something, if we just care enough to believe, men like us can also be like them—confidently beautiful, with a heart. And that’s all that matters.

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Adel Abillar is a private law practitioner with a small office in Quezon City where, he says, “I alternate between being boss and messenger.”