The beauty contest that traditionally ranks women by physical attributes doesn’t necessarily require a minimum IQ, but intellect (or the seeming lack thereof) is so often used to criticize Binibining Pilipinas candidates. Business acumen doesn’t necessarily mean intelligence—as much as beauty or brains isn’t a measure of a person’s value—but it’s fascinating to find beauty queens who have also heard the call of entrepreneurship.
A business student‑turned‑fashion designer, a certified public accountant, and a restaurateur—three of the 40 candidates of this year’s Binibining Pilipinas have more than just a pretty face in the country’s biggest beauty derby. Check them out:
Armed with an entrepreneurship degree from De La Salle University, she moved to the US to study fashion design at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising where she finished magna cum laude. According to her profile on the Bb. Pilipinas official website, she’s been involved in the family’s clothing business since she came back home last year. Her LinkedIn profile says she worked as Assistant Designer at THML clothing, a brand that can be seen on the shelves of big name North American stores like Nordstrom and Dillards.
Business runs in the blood of this Filipino‑Chinese candidate. Her profile video says that as a certified public accountant, Ms. Ang, 24, worked for almost two years at SGV & Co. Philippines as an assurance associate. In an interview, she told SparkUp that she now manages her family’s own auditing firm, Topskill Consultancy Services. Topskill currently provides accounting, tax compliance and consultancy services to industries such as real estate, merchandising, and services. Ms. Ang also revealed that being able to sashay on the runway while practicing her accounting profession is her greatest achievement so far.
Aside from being a licensed interior designer, Ms. Asturias, 24, discloses through her official binibini profile that she is a restaurateur. She confirmed to SparkUp that she is behind Jose Karlo’s Coffee, a café located in Tacloban City, Leyte. It serves desserts that complement the caffeinated beverages. How she manages to be surrounded by sweets—including testing the products, and rechecking quality regularly—while maintaining a pageant‑worthy waist is another story.
GENEVA — An estimated 325 million people are living with hepatitis B or C and few are aware of their condition, with death tolls from the viruses rising, the UN said last week.
The World Health Organization’s latest hepatitis report identifies the condition as a grave public health threat that needs an “urgent response.”
Hepatitis killed 1.34 million people in 2015, a toll roughly in-line with HIV and tuberculosis.
But in contrast to HIV and TB, hepatitis deaths are increasing, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, recording a 22% mortality rise from 2000 to 2014.
Hepatitis is often symptom free, but types B and C can trigger liver cirrhosis and cancer if untreated.
Lack of awareness among those infected is driving the virus’ spread.
For hepatitis B — which is spread through bodily fluids like blood and semen — only 9% of those infected know their status.
And for hepatitis C, primarily spread through blood, just 20% of those infected are aware of their condition.
Lack of access to testing and treatment leaves “millions of people at risk of a slow progression to chronic liver disease, cancer and death,” WHO said in a statement.
The hepatitis B problem is most acute in the WHO’s Western Pacific Region, which includes China, Malaysia, and southeast Asia. An estimated 115 million people in the region have the virus.
Second worst is Africa, with 60 million hepatitis B cases.
An effective vaccine exists for hepatitis B.
WHO’s latest data shows that hepatitis C — for which there is no vaccine — is most commonly spread through unsafe injections, notably among drug users.
Europe and the eastern Mediterranean region are afflicted with the most hepatitis C cases at 14 million and 15 million respectively.
WHO is trying to ramp up the global hepatitis response, aiming to treat some 80% of sufferers worldwide by 2030. — AFP
THE GOVERNMENT posted a fiscal deficit in March that was smaller than the year-ago gap, as spending picked up with revenues despite the past year’s high expenditure base as the May elections then neared, according to data the Treasury bureau released yesterday. Read the full story.
