As she heads to Durban, Africa, to represent the Philippines in the Mrs. Universe competition, Cebuana Marilou Villanueva vowed to not only showcase Filipina beauty but also local sports, particularly arnis.
The 40-year-old Villanueva will be going up against 84 other beauties in the annual pageant on August 28. She was handpicked by the Mrs. Universe committee out of 56 other bets to represent the country.
Villanueva believes sports is important since it helps people become fit and be productive.
She was at the Cebu City Sports Center on Monday afternoon to try arnis, joining kids from the Abellana National School and Cebu City Central School in their daily practices with the Philippine Eskrima Kali-Arnis Federation (Pekaf).
“We will have this forum. We will be presenting tourism. (But) I don’t want to just present our tourism but also this kind of [sports] programs that we have so that we can inspire more people,” Villanueva said.
The ceremony on Monday was held in dedication to Villanueva’s advocacy of “Woman and Children Into Sports.” It was attended by officials from the Cebu City Sports Commission, and Pekaf, which is the national governing body for arnis.
Villanueva, who tried taekwondo in her younger years before getting married, said people should try arnis.
“This is not really difficult to learn. It’s easy if you really focused. [It needs] determination. We Filipinos should be determined to be healthy. Think good. Live well,” Villanueva said.