ALL she wanted was to be honest. So when she was asked about her relationship status, Binibining Tabogon Maria Izobel Taguiam gave an unexpected and sincere answer during the top 12 casual interview for the Binibining Cebu pageant held Oct. 28 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Miss Earth 2008 Karla Henry, one of the pageant’s hosts, asked Taguiam: “All right Miss Tabogon, may I ask you a simple question? Do you have a boyfriend?”

To which the 17-year-old beauty queen answered: “Yes but not a boyfriend but a girlfriend. Because I believe love does not see gender and if you love that someone, go for it.” Her revelation earned praise and applause from the audience that night. Henry had a follow-up question for Taguiam, “Do you think that a woman who is single will make a better Binibining Cebu or that one who is in a relationship?”

She answered, “I think mas maayo jud na committed ka kay kung imong partner kahibaw mo support nimo sa tanan nimong desisyon, he or she will not hinder sa imong mga commitments.”

Loud and proud “I’m just proud to have her. I just want to tell people nga it is okay to love someone regardless of gender,” Taguiam, a high school student from Southwestern University told Cebu Daily News in an interview Monday evening.

She said that the reason why she revealed her relationship was because she knows the feeling of being denied.

“I just want to be honest as possible and answer from the bottom of my heart that’s why I decided to reveal it during the interview,” Taguiam added. She said she also wanted to thank her girlfriend for being supportive of her Binibining Cebu 2017 journey.

“She did not attend any of my practices but she would always fetch me or book my Grab para ma monitor ko niya,” she added.

She also recalled what her girlfriend did for her during one of her activities for the pageant. “Sa glamshoot namo sa Sogod, I had another appointment that day. I remember ‘Battle of the Bands’ sa school namo, super conflict ang schedule. Gikuha ko niya didto by motor. Ulan pajud but she let me wear her jacket ug helmet nga covered para di ko mabasa and I can see her chilling tungod sa kabugnaw but she still drove me back to the city para lang makaabot ko’s ako appointment,” she said.

“I realized na if she doesn’t love me, she won’t even agree to the idea. She’s someone worth loving, she has a beautiful soul,” Taguiam added.

They have been in a relationship for five months now. They met through a mutual friend. Now that the pageant is over, Taguiam said she will focus on her studies. “Binibining Cebu taught me a lot of things.

The best way to remember it is to apply everything I’ve learned from there in every opportunity that comes my way. I’ll say yes to modeling and pageantry in the future pero for now focus sa ko sa akong studies,” she said.