Four Cebuana beauties shared how they learned to cultivate self-love to overcome challenges and become the confident beauty queens they are today. | CDN Photo/ Emmariel Ares
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The fourteenth day of February is celebrated worldwide as Valentine’s Day – the one special day we exert more effort in expressing the love and affection we have towards friends, family members, and lover.
While we are preoccupied with searching for the best gifts and ideas on how to make the day special for others, we often forget that our love for ourselves is equally important as the love we give and receive.
The sad truth is: self-love doesn’t always come naturally.
Oftentimes, we are our own harshest critics who view ourselves in a stricter way than we do others. And this type of mentality greatly affects how we treat other people and how we handle relationships.
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Many relationships have ended due to unresolved personal conflicts that were left in the shadows while we are trying to find out how to love others the way they need to be loved.
Come Valentine’s Day, we frequently forget that no romantic relationship would survive if you haven’t learned to love yourself first.
And this is a process that takes time and effort until you wake up one day with the right amount of confidence.
This Valentine’s Day, four beautiful women, who are set to conquer the Miss Universe Philippines stage, are sharing how they’ve learned to cultivate self-love.
Own your look
Do not be ashamed of the girl you see in the mirror – this was the advice of Natasha Testa to other girls in search of confidence to enter the world of pageantry.
Testa, a simple girl who grew up in a small town in Bicol, started competing in beauty pageants at only 11-years-old.
She was a dark skinned petite girl with unruly hair, which became bullets for people who bullied her when she came to Cebu.
Testa, however, was more bewildered than mad. She could not understand why the traits that made her who she is became a reason for her to be the subject of ridicule.
Fortunately, it did not take too long for her to realize that her bullies would always find a way to make fun of her no matter what she looked like. And so, she stopped caring about their opinions.
In an interview with CDN Digital, Testa shared how indifference helped her gain more confidence to join more beauty competitions.
She stated that she learned to love every bits of herself by gaining experiences and choosing to be herself without thinking about the opinions of others. that’s the essence of self-love
“I don’t care about what other people think about me. And that’s something that I have learned that I carry up until this day. I don’t care about them. So if you’re a little girl who wants to enter this industry, you have to love yourself for who you are,” she said.
Testa, now 21-years-old, will be representing the city of Lapu-Lapu in the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 pageant after winning the Miss Universe Philippines Cebu competition in 2024.
Take the time to heal
Thelma Suzanne Dayao, 20, has been modeling since she was a little girl.
At six-years-old, her grandmother introduced her to the world of beauty contests which helped her build her confidence and self-love as she grew up into a young lady.
Her life, however, hit a slump when her grandmother passed away. The unexpected incident triggered an anxiety disorder that had her taking therapy and medications as a high school student.
“I felt like I lost a big part of myself. That’s what I think triggered my anxiety,” shared Dayao.
But with the help of her friends and family, who acted as her support system, Dayao recovered and gained back the love for pageantry which she shared with her late grandmother.
To be the best version of yourself, Dayao said that it is important to be strong no matter what hurdles are thrown at you in life.
“It’s not always gonna be rainbows and sunshines. You have to go through storms to make you stronger. And don’t lose hope. Because the little girl that I was before especially the girl that experienced anxiety didn’t expect that she would come out of her shell and become this girl that I am now. I didn’t think that I would recover,” she stated.
Self-love includes allowing yourself to be vulnerable and seek help when needed. According to Dayao, it is important to appreciate the blessings we get to enjoy in life everyday.
“Life is not a very perfect journey. But you have to appreciate every single day. Because not everyone is blessed with good health and a life to live. Every morning is a blessing,” she stated.
Dayao will be joining the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 contest as a representative of her hometown of San Fernando in northern Cebu.
Be your authentic self
Chella Grace Falconer spent her childhood playing all kinds of outdoor games with her friends in the province. Since she was young, Falconer has always been an active and jolly girl determined to make a name for herself.
Now at 25-years-old, she earned the title of Miss Universe Philippines Cebu Tourism 2025 and will be competing with other ladies from different parts of the country for the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 crown.
As a young woman herself, Falconer shared her advice to younger girls to be their authentic selves to develop self-love.
For girls who wish to enter the world of pageantry one day, she advised them to learn to stand up for themselves and build boundaries for their own well-being.
Falconer takes pride in being known as a family-oriented person. Tattoos of her siblings’ names near her heart show just how much she values her family as her inspiration in life.
Her journey highlights how staying true to yourself no matter what others say allows you to learn self-love that would protect you from others with ill intentions.
“It sounds cliche but just be your authentic self. Don’t be someone who’s so eager in the pageant world that sometimes you overplease people….I would like to set the standard of being true, the standard of having self-respect. Being genuine and also having a support system,” stated Falconer.
Get to know yourself better
This year’s Miss Universe Philippines Cebu 2025, on the other hand, emphasized the need for self reflection in fostering a loving connection with yourself.
In an interview with CDN Digital, 26-year-old Gabriella Mai Carballo elaborated how a healthy relationship with others can only last if you are able to assess first how you can be an ideal partner.
“Aside from looking for that person, are you that person? Are you the kind of person that someone else would actually like to live with and exist with every single day for the rest of their lives. Because sometimes we are so quick to blame the people that we are with but we don’t realize na I also have weaknesses. We also have shortcomings,” she stated.
“If you’ve already been introspective and asked yourself what makes you a bad partner and then you actually do something about it, the chances are higher that you will find someone who has similar values,” added Carballo.
Reaching this point, however, is only possible once you learn to accept everything that makes you who you are inside and out.
Carballo’s advice to building self-esteem is self-love, to focus on yourself first before anything else.
“I just want young girls to know that there’s so much more to life than the glitz and the glamour. And that I want them to focus rather more on self-development, finding their calling, having a good relationship with God. And just using all of those parts of their background to make a version of themselves that will shine wherever they are planted,” she stated.
For Carballo, maintaining self-care and self-knowledge is the key in growing into the kind of person who’s ready to fully share her love with others.
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In the coming months, she will be joining the contestants from across the country on the Miss Universe Philippine stage as the contender of Cebu City.
This Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to reflect on why it is important to leave space to build and appreciate the relationship you have with yourself.
With the advice of all four beauty queens who will be proudly representing different parts of Cebu in the national stage, take this time to cultivate self-love in your daily life.
Be confident, appreciate your own beauty, and go show the world the best version of yourself. Love yourself as much as you love the people who make you feel excited to wake up and face the world everyday.
