Sabrinne Al-Tawil Bb. Pamantasan 2010
Sabrinne Al-Tawil, our beauty queen rep to the Miss Friendship International 2010 can thank her mixed parentage for her striking Philistine/Philippine beauty.
Her Dad is Palestinian and Mom is, of course, Pinay. Now why am I thinking Rima Fakih?
Anywhooo… Goliath would’ve been proud of this one – Sabrinne stands tall at 5’9″ and is not afraid of getting into a legitimate scuffle thanks to all the soccer games she played as a teenager.
SURVIVING A BROKEN HOME
While Sabrinne enjoyed her childhood, it was far from perfect with the break-up of her parents. While that incident left her in a broken home, it did not leave her broken-down. She shrugs it all off with confidence saying that the one good thing she experienced was being ‘shared’ by her parents. Sabrinne Al-Tawil got to shuttle between Mom in the Philippines and Dad in the US. While she says majority of the time she was in Manila, she did study for a few years in the US.
Sabrinne Al Tawil 1
INDEPENDENT AT 16
The parental split-up and time spent in the US also left Sabrinne Al-Tawil with a very rare trait for a Filipina – fierce independence. Even the way she speaks has a slight tough edge to it. You see, she has been earning her own keep from the age of 16. Yes, her parents help out here and there but she still fends for herself most of time.
What is impressive (at least for a spoiled girl like me,) is this: Sabrinne Al-Tawil is working hard at earning a degree in Nursing (currently 3rd year) from the Philippine College of Health Sciences on Recto with the ultimate goal of taking up Medicine. She is also temporary parent to her 4 year old brother while her Mom works as a nurse in Europe. WHEW!
BB. PAMANTASAN 2010 WINNER!
Studying a medical course in Manila and trying to support herself through college turned out to be a financial challenge for Sabrinne Al-Tawil. But a girl this pretty has got to be crafty! She managed to survive the challenge by representing her college in the Bb. Pamantasan 2010 beauty pageant and winning it. One of the prizes included a full-scholarship. WHEW again!
Sabrinne Al Tawil
CROWN HELD HOSTAGE?
With all that life-experience, I don’t think flying to China alone to face more than 60 other beautiful women will make Sabrinne Al-Tawil break a sweat. But the one thing that does makes her heart faint is the thought of flying to China so soon after the Manila hostage crisis which caused the deaths of 8 Hong Kong natives. Ironically, the pageant she is flying to is the Miss Friendship International 2010, a China-based beauty pageant that strives to promote and strengthen cultural exchange and friendship between China and other countries.
Does she think she’s lost all chances of winning because of the strained relations between the Philippines and China? Sabrinne Al-Tawil admits it’s in the back of her head but she’s trying hard not to think about it. While she agrees that the Quirino Grandstand hostage incident was a terrible event, she is also believing that the Chinese pageant organizers will stay true to their goal of promoting friendship between nations.
But so far it looks good for Sabrinne Al-Tawil. She just got her expedited visa to China today (Sept. 3, 2010) after a very short 2-day wait. She leaves on September 5, 2010 to do her best to show China that the Philippines is deeply sorry for what happened and wants to remain friends for life.
Miss Friendship International 2010 Coronationation night is Sept. 27, 2010 in Xianning, Hubei, China. Sabrinne Al-Tawil’s National Costume and wardrobe are designed by Roque Cabardo who will also be handling her make-up and hair in the China beauty pageant. She would also like to thank Ovette Ricalde, Mega Star Production, Dr. George Cordero of PCHS, Zachary Cordero, Ronald Macatangay and Arlyn Vergara of Bb. Unibersidad-PASUC-CHED.
Sabrinne Al-Tawil also trained under John de la Vega *The Best Pageant Trainor in the Philippines* who taught her to stop walking like a boy and start floating like a queen.
Wow. She’s quite a beauty. Perhaps she might consider joining the BB Pilipinas next year. Also, I hope you don’t mind my pointing out that “Philistine” means either a native of ancient Philistia, or someone who is materialistic or uncultured. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/philistine) I’m sure neither applies to Sabrinne (LOL)! Perhaps you meant “Palestinian” which pertains to the present-day Arabs occupying regions of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Anyhow, I wish Sabrinne the best of luck and hope the recent hostage crisis in Manila doesn’t diminish her chances of winning. It’s truly sad when violent events or political tensions impact pageants. For example, back in 1972, outgoing Miss Universe Georgina Rizk (of Lebanon) was not allowed to enter Puerto Rico to crown her successor due to growing Middle East tensions at the time and fears of a terrorist attack by Arab extremists. Lebanon, an Arab state, also withdrew its delegate from the pageant that year. Sigh.
One of my pastors once said that the Philistines are today’s Palestinians.
Here is a link I found that mentions it. While the term Philistine may have negative connotations, I am using it here as positively as possible… hahahaha! But I am not a historian and almost failed history and social studies. So the Philistine Palestine connection is just a piece of trivia that I got in church… I am now wondering if this is something that historians argue about… hmmmm
Historians arguing about something… ? Naaah. : ) The word is indeed controversial. There’s even an entire book written not too long ago about the word. Check it out at Google — “The Philistine Controversy”. Portions of it are available through Google books. The UK Guardian also has a book review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/nov/16/highereducation.news2
I agree with you that the ancient Philistines are indeed the modern counterparts of today’s Palestinians. I guess the real question is how in the world did the term “Philistine” become a derogatory term in modern English usage (especially in England) since the ancient Philistines were actually quite a very sophisticated lot. Hmmmm is right.
If you are a Philistine, then it’s not derogatory, hahahaha! I guess the derogatory ‘feeling’ stems from the Goliath vs David bible story. The Philistine soldiers were painted as a nasty lot in that kwento. And I surmise that they were indeed nasty because armies/soldiers in those days were not the nicest bunch on the planet.
But again, I used the term Philistine in a positive way because Sabrinne is half Palestinian and very proud of it. And Philistine rhymes with Philippine, LOLOLOL! Unfortunately, even “Philippine” or “Filipino” is sometimes said (in certain quarters) in a derogatory fashion. OUCH! So my blog aims to uplift Filipina beauty to show the world that we are more than what people read in the papers…
MAGANDA SIYA. SANA LANG HINDI MAAPEKTOHAN ANG MGA BEAUTY PAGEANTS SA NANGYARING HOSTAGE TAKING. MARAMI PA NAMAN PAGEANTS NA GAGANAPIN THIS YEAR IN CHINA. TO NAME A Few: miss world, miss international, miss tourism queen, miss global beauty queen , queen of the year! haik sana lang d tlaga maapektohan!
She’s so pretty. Very beauty queen material. I once heard of a beauty queen who wanted to Face Paint the Body of her sister during the talent portion. But the pageant officials didn’t allow it.
[...] I asked Sabrinne how she felt about going to China on the heels of the Manila Hostage Crisis. And while Sabrinne Al-Tawil had some concerns then, I think she is doing a darned fine job of being an ambassadress of reconciliation by her gesture [...]
[...] My fears were unfounded! [...]
[...] big-eyed Palestinian Filipina has one of the most striking faces in Bb. Pilipinas 2011! While Sabrinne Al-Tawil seemed reserved on stage, as if keeping a secret from the audience, her elegant smile shined [...]
[...] big-eyed Palestinian Filipina has one of the most striking faces in Bb. Pilipinas 2011! While Sabrinne Al-Tawil seemed reserved on stage, as if keeping a secret from the audience, her elegant smile shined [...]