Miss Philippines by Isagani R. Cruz

Isagani R. Cruz was born on 1945. He is a Filipino writer. He graduated as Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1965 from the University of the Philippines. Then he later enrolled at the Ateneo de Manila University to earn an M.A. in English Literature in 1970. He also earned a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Maryland in 1976. Cruz received a Fulbright grant that allowed him to study in the United States in 1972 and 2003.

Cruz had written more than thirty books. He has been a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awardee for Literature and as a result, he bcame a member of Palanca Hall of Fame in 2004. He also won the SEAWRITE Award in 1991, the Centennial Literary Contest Award in 1998, and the Gawad Balagtas Award in 1999. Cruz even represented Philippines in several conferences in Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan. Cruz’s works were published in the Philippines and in the United States. Here in the Philippines, he worked as an editor for Loyola Studies, Palabas, Interlock, and Malay Publications. He is a regular contributor for Philippine periodicals like Times Journal, Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Tv Times, Modern Romances, Bulaklak, WHO, Parade, Observer, Panorama, Ms. Ellaneous, and Asiaweek Magazine. Apart from writing, he is also known for being drama and film reviewer.

Cruz works with the prominent universities in the Philippines as an educator. In De La Salle University, he held the Alfredo E. Litiatco Lectures, he also chaired for the Department of Literature and Philippine Languages. He became a publisher at the De La Salle University Press. While at the De La Salle University, Cruz taught Science Fiction, Advanced Writing, The Teaching of Literature, and Computer Literacy. He also taught Literature at the Ateneo de Manila University and at the University of Santo Tomas. He worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of the Philippines In Diliman, Quezon Cuty and as a director of the Teacher’s Academy at Far Eastern University. He also became a professor at universities in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. He became a Visiting Fellow at St Antony's College at Oxford University.

Cruz is an advocate of Philippine culture; he was a member of groups and institutions that promote Philippine literature and art. He was a member and founding chair of the Manila Critics Circle, the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Philippine Film Critics). He is the former head of the Philippine Studies Association of the Philippines, the University of the Philippines Writers Club, the Cultural Research Association of the Philippines, the American Studies Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Tournament Bridge Association, and the National Research Council of the Philippines. He is also the Philippine bibliographer of the Modern Languages Association of America. He was the president of the Philippine Fulbright Scholars Association.

One of Cruz’s works is Miss Philippines and the University of the East Drama Company adapted it and performed it last February 26, 2010 at the UE Theater. Music was created by Gian Gianan and the play was directed by Erick Castro.

The play was a comedy and it’s really fun to watch. It is about the search for the next Ms. Philippines. The contestants who are also the protagonists had different personalities which made the play really colorful. They are unique and very comic. The first character is a feminist named Lily Dimatapakan who keeps on arguing with her boyfriend Tito because she thinks that men think that women are just beautiful but dumb. She wants to prove that women can both have beauty and brains so she decided to join Ms. Philippines. The second character is Stella, an actress but had movie flops. She wanted to revive her career so she decided to join the contest. The third character is Bridgette Sirangpuri, a call girl with a very heavy Visayan Accent. She wanted her life to change so she joined Ms. Philippines. The fourth is an aspiring actress Loisa Sagabal who is always with her ambitious mother. She joined Ms. Philippines so that she will be discovered by talent scouts. Fifth character is Norma. She is attempting to win the price of Ms. Philippines for a very simple reason. She just wanted to get married with her religious boyfriend and have their own home. And the last character is a very flirty lady who treats boys as her toys, Mariza Champaka.

There are also characters like Efren, the regular customer of Bridgette and also one of the judges in the contest. He is trying to win Bridgette by promising her the crown but she resisted. In vain, he tried to seduce Lily but being a smart and fierce woman, she also resisted and much more, she told the head what Efren is doing. Efren was removed from the list of judges because of Lily. Mr. Ramon Diretso, Efren’s uncle is the head of the pageant and the one who kicked Efren out. He is also the person Mrs. Sagabal is trying to befriend so that Loisa will win the contest. There was even a man who played the role of all the other non-speaking extras and as the jar dung the contest. he has been the source of most of the laughter of the audiences.

Stella, won the crown but the other contestants still won in different terms. Norma and her boyfriend are moving abroad because the Christian fellowship her boyfriend belongs to assigned him. The Christian fellowship will also be the one to provide their house. Loisa and her mother has become the new “mother and daughter” tandem in showbussiness. Bridgette, after all her resistance during the contest, still hooked up with Efren in the end because she wants to live in his condominium unit. Tito, Lily’s boyfriend became sweeter and has accepted that beauty and brain can come in one package.

The play Miss Philippines showed portrayed different character in order to show that not all Filipinas have the same quality but even though, it doesn’t mean that they are not equal. They are all equal since they are all qualified to join the contest. One of the play’s messages is to treat women equally. They are not servants, they are not inferior and most of all, they are not toys.

source of information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isagani_R._Cruz