Ten years ago, Winwyn Marquez aimed for the prestigious Miss Universe pageant for the first time when she joined Binibining Pilipinas 2015. The Philippines won the Miss Universe crown then. But it wasn’t Winwyn on the international stage. It was Pia Wurtzbach.
The then 22-year old Teresita Ssen Marquez, commonly known as Winwyn, despite being a first timer in a national contest, made it to the Top 15. She competed with some of the bests in the pageant scene: 2016 Miss International Kylie Versoza, Asia’s Next Top Model finalist Alaiza Flor Malinao, Miss Intercontinental First Runner-up Christi McGarry, Miss Globe 2015 eventual winner Ann Colis and the third Filipina Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach. Competing head to head with these names, we can say that she did well.
Two years later, Winwyn came back on the pageant stage by joining Miss World Philippines. She went so close to representing the Philippines at the Miss World pageant. She ranked second to Laura Lehmann and was given the Reina Hispanoamericana title. We all know that Marquez is the first Filipina to win the Reina Hispanoamericana crown when she returned triumphant from Bolivia in 2017.
We can consider those three years as illustrious for Winwyn. She went on with her life. Fell in love and became a mother in 2022 to the very adorable Luna.
But fate has more for the achiever. The Universe craves more from those who deliver. Just as when Winwyn says she’s retired from the pageant scene, an opportunity to represent Muntinlupa at the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 came knocking at her door.
“I will not be here if not for Miss Anna Magkawas,” she says at the sashing ceremony staged entirely for the official announcement of her pageant come back. Anna is the CEO of Luxe PH, a widely-distributed beauty brand in the country. She is also the local director of Miss Universe Philippines - Muntinlupa. On its first year, they appoint Winwyn.
“Hindi naman ako sasali talaga if I have not felt that the time is right. I hope this will inspire all women that it is never too late for anything in life,” she says. Winwyn is now 32, ripe for a pageant that has removed age limits, status and whether or not a woman has a child or none.
When the Miss Universe Organization opened the pageant to “all kinds of women”, at different stages of their life that is, the pageant saw an emergence of the unconventional contestants. In 2023, 29 year-old mother Camilla Avella of Colombia made it to the Top 5. That the same year, plus-size Jane Dipika Garrett brought Nepal to a top 20 finish.
This is the same pageant adjustments that Winwyn is thankful for. “I would like to thank Miss Anna Magkawas, Miss Universe Philippines and of course the Miss Universe Organization for allowing women like me- mothers- to have another shot at pageantry,” she says.
As for her chances of winning, Ms. Marquez said that it is not all about winning. In the previous editions of Miss Universe Philippines, some of the heavy favorites did not win the crown. For Winwyn, it is trying again that matters the most.
And with all the wisdom that she has acquired from her previous pageant experiences and from being a mother, she said that she’s ready to #WYNForTheCrown.