Teresita Sanchez: First Ever Pinay Crowned as Miss Philippines in 1952

Meet Teresita Sanchez, the first ever Pinay who represented the country in Miss Universe pageant.

TERESITA SANCHEZ – Here are some of the things you might want to know about Teresita Sanchez, the country’s first Miss Universe Philippines.

It was in 1952 when the first ever Miss Universe pageant was held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States. At that year, there were 33 contestants who vied to bag the crown and the 17-year-old Armi Kuusela of Finland came out as the winner. The first Miss Universe queen was crowned then by actress Piper Laurie.

(See: Armi Kuusela: First Miss Universe Queen in 1952 Who Married A Pinoy)

The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th runners-up of the 1952 pageant were the representatives of Hawaii (Elza Kananionapua Edsman), Greece (Daisi Mavraki), Hong Kong (Judy Dan), and Germany (Renate Hoy), respectively. Other candidates part of the finalists were:

Olga Llorens Pérez Castillo, Mexico
Catherine Edwina Higgins, South Africa
Anne Marie Tistler, Sweden
Gladys Rubio Fajardo, Uruguay
Jacqueleen Loughery, USA

And for our country, the first ever Pinay to represent us is Teresita Torralba Sánchez, the first Miss Universe Philippines crowned in 1952 by mayor of Manila then, Arsenio Lacson at the Fiesta Pavilion of Manila Hotel. She is from Malolos, Bulacan and one of the candidates she competed in Miss Philippines 1952 pageant is the late actress Nida Blanca.

Celso de Guzman, a beauty expert, said as per PhilStar, that after her stint in the pageant, job opportunities chased her which she all declined including modeling job in an art academy in New York and from business firms in San Francisco.

Check out some photos of our first Miss Universe Philippines: