Filipino grandmothers are not to be left behind in beauty competitions. Mrs. Grandma-Philippines Agnes Jakosalem was crowned Mrs. Grandma-Universe 2017 in Sofia, Bulgaria on Jan. 22 by the outgoing Mrs. Grandma Universe 2016 Cveteslava Gulabova of Bulgaria.
Jakosalem, a 51-year-old, mother of three children and a grandmother to a granddaughter, bested 15 grandma representatives from other countries around the world to become the first Filipina to win the Mrs. Grandma-Universe title.
Jakosalem followed last year’s Babylyn Decena-Newfield who was named Mrs. Grandma-Universal 2016.
‘I cannot believe I won. This is the first time in my life that I competed in a beauty contest,” the BS MedTech graduate at Southwestern University, now into real estate business in Cebu, said after winning the eight edition of the Mrs. Grandma Universe pageant. With no experience as a contestant, Jakosalem relied solely on her confidence and pride in being a Filipino and the solid support of encouragement from her nephews and children.
Jakosalem and the other candidates competed in talent and evening gown and in an essay-writing on the theme about grandparenting, instead of the traditional question-and-answer round. Jakosalem, a native of Zamboang del Norte, said she based her answer on the joys of co-parenting her only one granddaughter.