A grand welcome awaits Karen Gallman when she arrives in the province for her official homecoming as Miss Intercontinental.
No exact date has been set yet for the homecoming but Second District Rep. Aris Aumentado, a relative of Gallman, said that a hero’s welcome in Ubay, or possibly the entire province, will be staged for the Boholana beauty queen.
Gallman, who traces her roots to Ubay through her mother Editha, has recently started her media blitz in Metro Manila after clinching the country’s first ever Miss Intercontinental title.
On pageant night at the posh Okada Manila in Paranaque City last January 26, Gallman dazzled the crowd and judges with her intelligence and her gown inspired by Balilihan’s majestic Camugao falls.
Sources told VRS that Gallman will fly to Bohol when she is no longer busy with her series of television appearances and interviews.
Gallman will be arriving from Manila, which is her home during her one-year reign.
Her last homecoming in April last year after winning the Bb. Pilipinas-Intercontinental 2018 was sponsored by Aumentado.
“My family, the entire Ubay community and the Boholanos are very proud of what our very own Karen Gallman has achieved. The first Filipina and the first Boholana to win, ever, the Miss Intercontinental pageant,” Aumentado said in a statement.
“Karen, as we fondly call her is the same Karen who grew up in Ubay. She has remained simple yet determined. An empowered woman. This serves as a challenge to Boholanas who participate in international pageants in the future. We have the chance to win any contest if we have the determination to win,” he said.
Aumentado said that they understand that Gallman’s schedule would be busy from now on.
But he said that he would invite Gallman for her homecoming to give her a hero’s welcome and a motorcade around Ubay, and if possible, the whole province.
“This title is a gift to all Boholanos because Boholanos are really simple yet strong,” he said.
Many Boholanos including those overseas were ecstatic about her win.
“B for Bohol, B for Beauty, B-Hold Bohol,” Pete Cabalit, an international cruise ship crew, posted on Facebook.
“I can’t help admiring her beauty. She certainly exudes both charm and inner strength that she has seemed to have polished over the years,” said Miss Tagbilaran 1987 Fiel Angeli Araoarao-Gabin.
Bishop Abet Uy of the Diocese of Tagbilaran shared the news on Gallman’s winning on Facebook. He even used the hashtag #proudlyboholano.
Gallman was born in Barangay Fatima in Ubay town on September 27, 1992 to Gavin William Gallman, a retired Australian soldier, and Ubay native Editha Boyonas.
She spent her childhood days at Barangay Bood before she migrated to Australia at age 8.
“So, I was basically born and raised in Bohol jud,” said Karen, who was crowned Miss Ubay 2007, in her past interview with your VRS during her homecoming in 2018.
Gallman shared she had happy childhood memories in Barangay Bood where she grew up with her seven siblings. Her best memorable experience in Ubay was when she fell from a mansanitas (Ziziphus jujube) tree.
“It’s the best. I had the best childhood memories. And I have Bohol to thank for that- the surroundings, the environment and the people,” she said.
She said she likes ginamos (salted and fermented fish) and dried fish.
“Gianad mi sa among mama,” she proudly said.
She first joined Binibining Pilipinas in 2012 at the age of 19 and made it to the top 12 of the national beauty pageant and was also named Miss Photogenic of the batch.
Before trying her luck again in Bb Pilipinas 2018, she worked as an operations analyst for a company in London for two years.
In the Bb. Pilipinas 2018, Karen received flak for her Q&A response when asked about her thoughts on building a third restroom for transgenders. She explained, “I love the LGBT community.”
She said her mother Editha trained her and her siblings to speak the Visayan language and embrace the Boholano way even if they were living in Brisbane, Australia.
Gallman speaks Cebuano so confidently and fluently without a foreign accent and even proudly calls herself “Bisdak” (Bisayang Daku)- which makes her all the more endearing to many Boholanos.
Editha said her daughter is “independent, buotan nga anak (a good daughter)” whose big dream was to become a beauty queen.
* * *
Thanks for your letters, all will be answered. Comments welcome at leoudtohan@yahoo.com, follow leoudtohanINQ at Twitter /Facebook.