Penagbenga Festival Competition

Winner: Antonio Isip - designed by: Romeo Carpio of Riyadh; Nesreen Kurshid - designed by: Rey Loyola of Jeddah





Photos by Gerico Canlapan of Cameraderie

For complete set of photos, click HERE

Nesreen Kurshid: Bb. Pilipinas Saudi Arabia 2009

Nesreen Khurshid, a 15 year old student from Durat Al Shark Int’l School in Saudi Arabia wears the crown as Binibining Pilipinas-Saudi Arabia 2009 during the search held last October 16, 2009 at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.

Nesreen bested 11 other candidates during the final competition.

Aside from wining the title, Nesreen and her designer, REy Loyola, won the Best in Penagbenga Festival Costume, Rey Loyola.

Other Jeddah delegates who won special awards were, Carlisle Tadili, Miss Photogenic-Jeddah and the People’s Choice Award, Ahmed Baeshen, Peoples Choice Award, Nicole Escalderon – Miss Friendship-Jeddah and Fahad Ali – Mr. Friendship-Jeddah and Mr. Photogenic-Jeddah.


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Photos by Jocaster Dojoles

GBBPSA 09 Highlights

Bb. Pilipinas Saudi Arabia 2009 - Nesreen Kurshid and G. Pilipinas Saudi Arabia 2009 Jerome Barrera

Bb. Pilipinas Saudi Arabia 08 - Michelle Bullough (right) with Bb. Pilipinas Saudi Arabia 08 3rd Runner-up Carmina Louise Aragon (left)

Photos by Mykdotcom of Cameraderie Club. Click HERE

Barrera and Kurshid declared as this year's winners!!

Left to right: 3rd Runners-up - Beverly de Luna and Chris Redondo, 1st Runners-up Nerissa Tolentino and Antonio Isip, Grand winners Nesreen Kurshid and Jerome Barrera, 2nd Runners-up Lady Princess Sengson and Mark Galang


Jerome Barrera of Riyadh is this year's Ginoong Pilipinas Saudi Arabia 2009.

Nesreen Kurshid, a Fil-Egyptian student from Jeddah wins the Bb. Pilipinas Saudi Arabia 2009 crown.

All Set for the Pageant Tonight!

The Jeddah delegates arrived yesterday and all is set for the Grand Coronation Night tonight at the Philippine Embassy Riyadh K.S.A.

The show will start at 5:00 pm.





Prior to the final event, a preliminary personality interview, which comprises 20%, was held yesterday at Cetro's Residence. All candidates were interviewed individually and were given 3 similar questions.


After the interview, the candidates were able to acquaint themselves and bond together lasted till midnight.

The search will soon be over, but the experiences and fun are the legacies to keep and their friendship has just begun.

Flores withdraws: Atienza replaces

Due to some conflict with her studies and commitments, Angelina Paula Flores withdraws from the Binibining Pilipinas Saudi Arabia pageant.

SE Productions replaces Flores with a new candidate, Danielle J. Atienza, student of Palm Crest International School.

Atienza, a fourteen year-old fron Bulacan, joins the pageant with the support of her parents although this wil be her first time to join a personality search.


Though the internet voting had already started and the poll cannot be modified, the public can still vote for Atienza for the Internet Choice Award. Her poll can be found separately from the previous candidates. But the total points she will earn will be counted and tallied along with the other contestants.

Click HERE to vote for Atienza.

She will be paired with Ralph Baluntang.

Bohol will be this year's featured tourist destination

Last year pageant, SE Productions featured Boracay as the tourist destinations during the beach attire segment. This year, S.E. Productions will be happy to bring you to the fast becoming one of the top travel destination in Asia - Bohol. The island offers a wide range of attractions from natural fine white sand beaches, great diving sites, scenic natural sights, old houses, ancient churches, historical sites and wonderful ecotourism highlights.

Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of Bohol Island and 75 minor surrounding islands. Its capital is Tagbilaran City. With a land area of 4,117.3 square kilometers (1,589.7 sq mi) and a coastline 261 kilometers (162 mi) long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines. To the west of Bohol is Cebu, to the northeast is the island of Leyte and to the south, across the Bohol Sea is Mindanao.

The province is a popular tourist destination with its beaches and resorts. The Chocolate Hills, numerous mounds of limestone formation, is the most popular attraction. The island of Panglao, located just southwest of Tagbilaran City, is famous for its diving locations and routinely listed as one of the top ten diving locations in the world. Numerous tourist resorts dot the southern beaches and cater to divers from around the world.

The Philippine Tarsier, considered the second-smallest primate in the world, is indigenous to the island. Tarsiers are small animals with enormous eyes; each eyeball is approximately 16 mm in diameter and is as large as their entire brain. Tarsiers also have very long hind limbs. In fact, their feet have extremely elongated tarsus bones, from which the animals get their name. The head and body range from 10 to 15 cm in length, but the hind limbs are about twice this long (including the feet), and they also have a slender tail from 20 to 25 cm long. Their fingers are also elongated, with the third finger being about the same length as the upper arm. Most of the digits have nails, but the second and third toes of the hind feet bear claws instead, which are used for grooming. Tarsiers have very soft, velvety fur, which is generally buff, beige, or ochre in color.]

The Chocolate Hills are probably Bohol's most famous tourist attraction. They look like giant mole hills, or as some say, women's breasts, and remind us of the hills in a small child's drawing. Most people who first see pictures of this landscape can hardly believe that these hills are not a man-made artifact. However, this idea is quickly abandoned, as the effort would surely surpass the construction of the pyramids in Egypt. The chocolate hills consist of are no less than 1268 hills (some claim this to be the exact number). They are very uniform in shape and mostly between 30 and 50 meters high. They are covered with grass, which, at the end of the dry season, turns chocolate brown. From this color, the hills derive their name. At other times, the hills are green, and the association may be a bit difficult to make.

Penagbenga Festival is this year's GBBPKSA Featured Festival

The Panagbenga Festival is held yearly during the month of February. The celebrations are held for over a month and peak periods are the weekends. The Panagbenga Festival showcases the many floral floats and native dances. The fragrant smells that could be presently teasing olfactory senses are probably less from the now-dried flowers from Valentine's Day than air floating all the way from Baguio City.

Panagbenga is a kankanaey term for "a season of blooming." It is also known as the Baguio Flower Festival, a homage to the beautiful flowers the city is famous for as well as a celebration of Baguio's re-establishment. Since February 1995, it has been held to help Baguio forget the 1990 earthquake that distressed much of the city.

Aside from economic boosts from tourism, the festival also helped the younger generation of indigenous people to rediscover their culture's old traditions. The indigenous people was first wary with government-led tourism because of the threat that they will interfere or change their communities' rituals.

The Panagbenga Festival, formerly as the Baguio Flower Festival, was formed in 1995 as the brainchild of Attorney Damaso Bangaoet Jr. of the John Hay Poro Point Development Corporation (JPDC) and Victor A. Lim of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA). Entries from the annual Camp John Hay art contest gave its official logo: a spray of sunflowers. The festival was set in February to boost tourism as it was considered as a month of inactivity between the busy days of Christmas season and the Holy Week and the summer season.

source: wilkipedia