Winwyn Marquez set foot on the Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH) 2025 stage armed with years of experience. She was a standout candidate from the get-go, having competed in Binibining Pilipinas in 2015, Miss World Philippines in 2017, and in the 2017 Reina Hispanoamericana, where she won the country’s first-ever crown in the Latin American pageant.
This time, however, Winwyn carried with her another credential that bore just as much weight as her extensive pageant resume: motherhood. In April 2022, Winwyn gave birth to her daughter Luna, a milestone that became the center of her world.
“I was told that it was really going to be difficult for me to bear a child because I had endometrioma. So I had a lot of medication that I should take. That also affected me mentally. And when I was told that, siyempre hindi ko muna iisipin ‘yung pageantry (of course I won’t think of pageantry first). I wanted to have my own family. And that’s why I say Luna is a miracle,” Winwyn told Rappler.
With her and her partner now becoming first-time parents, Winwyn naturally wanted to focus on her family before anything else.
“In 2017, I got to represent our country in South America. But even after that pageant I always had to question myself, should I join again? Can I join again? I never had the 110% to join again to try because I felt like it wasn’t for me anymore, or maybe that’s not my destiny. I said I’ll move on with my life and try to have my own family because that’s a dream of mine and God gave me that,” she said.
Just months after Luna’s birth, though, she would receive news that would change everything. The Miss Universe organization was now allowing mothers and wives to compete in the pageant. It was like fate had worked in Winwyn’s favor. While she was content with her Reina Hispanoamericana title, deep down, she knew she wanted to aim higher.
“I took that as a sign and nag-pray talaga ako kay God na (I really prayed to God, telling him), ‘thank you for giving me everything that I want in this life. Thank you even if it took so long. You gave me my miracle, my Luna, and now you opened this opportunity.’ When my local director asked me to join Miss Universe Philippines, I grabbed the opportunity,” Winwyn added.
From then on, motherhood would become the symbolic crown she would proudly wear throughout her entire MUPH run.
“Every time I enter something, I enter with intention and purpose. Always. [My intention] was clearly that even if you’re a mother or anybody or a wife or just someone who has big dreams, it will always be valid. I always say that,” Winwyn said.
“So my intention was to send a message to everybody that even if we’re mommies, we’re not just at home. It doesn’t mean that we have to pause [our own lives].”
A race against time
Throughout Winwyn’s whole MUPH journey, time was her biggest enemy.
It was a three-month-long commitment that came with its own big responsibilities and hectic schedule of activities. It’s the country’s biggest pageant, after all.
When you do all that simultaneously with raising a daughter in her formative years, you’re bound to miss some of her milestones. Thankfully, however, Winwyn’s partner was always there to record Luna’s most important moments so she could look back on them later.
In her day-to-day during MUPH season, preparation and planning ahead were the best things she could turn to so she could make it all work. And she did.
“At home, I had lots of responsibilities as well. So I prepared mentally, I arranged all my responsibilities to the point that even the grocery list, I arranged what I needed at home. I talk to my family at home about what to do when I’m not here. It’s a struggle, it’s tough, but I make time as well, especially with my daughter when I have training,” Winwyn shared.
“That’s why I love being a mom. Because the things that I never imagined doing, I could do it.”
The MUPH venues where Winwyn needed to be, also somehow became her daughter’s second home. Whenever the pageant’s schedule permitted, Luna would always just be in the next room with her dad, cheering her mom on.
She would even tag along during Winwyn’s fittings and training sessions, so it didn’t really come as a surprise that Luna would go on to become Winwyn’s mini-me this early on.
“She absorbs everything that I do. She calls me Miss Universe Philippines. She copies my walk, she does poses. When she sees me, [she says], ‘Mama, you’re so beautiful.’ Little things like that are small wins for me already. The fact that she’s aware of what I’m doing and I feel like she’s very supportive, that’s a win for me,” Winwyn fondly recalled.
“At least, I can show my daughter what I do. I’m with her in everything that’s important in my life, so it’s a shared memory.”
The other MUPH contestants have also become Luna’s big sisters that she bonded with throughout her mom’s run. When Winwyn and the rest of the delegates flew to Boracay for the pageant’s swimsuit competition, Luna got to come along. The beach became her playground, and the younger contestants became her playmates — a memory Winwyn says Luna always remembers.
“Ang ganda lang kasi kasama ko siya sa journey ko (It’s nice because she was with me in my journey). It’s not like I just left her at home. It’s not like I neglected my responsibilities. No, I’m proud to say that you can do what you want and you can make your family happy at the same time,” Winwyn attested.
Overcoming hurdles, self-doubt
It wasn’t an entirely smooth three months for Winwyn, however. During one of the shoots mid-competition, Winwyn learned that Luna contracted dengue.
“We needed to bring her to the hospital but I finished the shoot first. The girls were also kind, they also understood that I [needed to go first]. I finished my responsibilities there and then I went to the hospital with my daughter,” she shared, adding that the MUPH organization was understanding about the situation.
Her obligations as a mother aside, Winwyn’s determination to go after the crown flickered at times, too, she admitted.
“I’m human after all. Sometimes I doubt myself. Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Am I worthy? Am I a good mom because I’m doing this?’ But you know, it’s okay to question yourself but don’t let it [get to you],” she said.
“At the end of the day, I’m doing this for my family, I’m doing this for myself, and that’s my reason for joining. I feel like I sent the message across to everybody because this is more than just a crown for me and I do hope I really have inspired a lot of women, especially moms.”
But Winwyn always circles back to her purpose, and of course, being a mother to Luna.
“I know that I’m my daughter’s constant. I know that she will live in a place where she feels secure. I have that gift to create an environment for her where she feels loved and she feels that she’s supported,” Winwyn said.
“I think ‘yun yung pinakamagandang mabibigay ko sa anak ko at pinakamagandang feeling ng isang nanay na maibigay ‘yun sa anak mo. So I think sa motherhood ‘yun ‘yung pinaka rewarding for me: alam kong ‘yung anak ko, hindi ako iiwan,” she added.
(I think that’s the best thing I can give my daughter and the best feeling a mother can give their child. So I think in motherhood that’s what’s most rewarding for me: I know my daughter will never leave me.)
During the coronation night, Luna had stayed awake the whole time to watch her mom in action. With her banner in tow, she was a little figure in the deep sea of audience members, but she had the biggest presence in Winwyn’s book.
“After the pageant, she ran up to me and said, ‘Mama, Miss Universe Philippines.’ I think she thought I was the winner,” Winwyn recalled, laughing.
A ‘wyn’ for all the mothers out there
Luna is clearly Winwyn’s biggest supporter, and it doesn’t just show when she’s out there competing on stage or showing off her acting chops on screen. It manifests in the little things — like her tight hugs and comforting words that mean the world to Winwyn.
“When I go home, my daughter hugs me and she asks me, ‘Mama, are you okay?’ She does that all the time at three years old. Imagine, I’m tired, I’m stressed from all the pageant activities, but when I get home, nawawala ‘yun kasi ‘yung anak ko gusto lang akong yakapin (It all goes away because my daughter just wants to hug me). And it makes it worthwhile,” she said.
“It makes everything perfect for me. Kahit gaano ako kapagod, alam ko (No matter how tired I am, I know) there’s this little girl who sees me as someone perfect in her eyes. So that’s the consolation prize for everything that happened.”
But Winwyn truly was one of the winners that night. She may have not taken home the title like Luna thought, but she succeeded at representing moms like her on the big stage, and that alone is an invisible crown she’ll always deserve to wear.
Winwyn’s mere entry into the pageant — not including her stellar performance — stands as a big inspiration for all mothers out there who dare to dream.
“You will always have time for yourself. Of course, if you’re ready to go out of your comfort zone, do it. Because you can’t force it, right? Again, your dreams do not have to end when your life changes. It only evolves,” she said.
“When you’re ready, go run after it. Do not look back. Have time for yourself. You will always have time for yourself. And I hope they do that. I hope they don’t get scared to do that. When you become a mother, you have this powerful, powerful power in you that whatever you put your heart into, your mind into, you can do it.”
May Winwyn’s MUPH run, then, serve as the little nudge moms out there need to have the courage to pursue their biggest aspirations, no matter how late it may seem. – Rappler.com
Content shared from www.rappler.com.