Miriam Quiambao Stumbled for the Second Time

Here is a very interesting article about Miriam Quiambao, 1999 Miss Universe First Runner Up. It is written by Giovanni Paolo J. Yazon for the Manila Standard Today.

Miriam moves on

IF only Miriam Quiambao answered the final question—“If a Miss Universe were to become pregnant, should she be allowed to continue her reign?”—at the 1999 Miss Universe pageant with a little more confidence and with her postpageant answer, “I believe that she should step down because bringing forth a child into the world is more important than anything else,” she would have been our third Miss Universe!

But, Miriam stuttered and said: “That’s a difficult situation to be into… if she has pursued her goals… she should continue…” And as pageant anchor Miss USA 1996 Ali Landry commented: “She clammed up… and it’s a shame!” And so Botswana’s Mpule Kwelagobe became Miss Universe that year.

Miriam is now back in Manila, after separating from her husband, Italian businessman Claudio Rondinelli, of two years, whom she lived with in Hong Kong. Together with Paolo Bediones, she now hosts GMA-7’s new travel show, Pinoy Meets World.

She may have “stumbled” for the second time—the first one being at the Miss Universe preliminaries in Trinidad and Tobago—but that doesn’t stop her from “standing up” and going on with her life once more. To quote her answer at the second interview segment, which catapulted her to the “final three,” she said: “I believe that [when I stood up on stage after tripping of on stage], I became a symbol of strength for all the women who had fallen [on and off stage]. And that by my example, I hope I’ve become an inspiration for the rest of women in the world!”