SAFAD, SOE cop Ambassador and Ambassadress of TC Crown
Photo by Lance Matthew Pahang and Jason Matthew Lim
Jeff Cabrera Jr. from the School of Architecture, Fine Arts and Design (SAFAD) and Rebelyn Abillion from the School of Engineering (SOE) were crowned as this year’s Ambassador and Ambassadress of TC (AATC) in its coronation night with the theme “Resplendent,” at the USC-TC Basketball Court on Nov. 24, 2018.
Following them were first runners-up Gilbert Apura Jr. from the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) and Mary Therese Tabada from SAFAD. Meanwhile, Jesrowe Janssen Sandoval from the School of Health Care Professions (SHCP) and Inderjit Saini from SAS finished as second runners-up.
The 20-year old Cabrera, in his freshman year in BS Interior Design, pushed for the advocacy “Art is not for free.” While Abillion, a fourth year BS Electronics and Communications Engineering student, promoted the advocacy “Beauty Self-Awareness.”
The pageant was initially graced with six pairs of candidates who strutted in the “Walk the Talk” and evening wear segment, but the search was trimmed down to the top three pairs as they battled wits in the question and answer portion.
Cabrera said that he felt as if he was in “cloud nine” upon receiving his first-ever pageantry title as he dedicated his win to his fellow artists.
“My advocacy is to be the voice of the artists. I’m dwelling on this because as a living artist, doing what you love is very important. My victory is not just for myself but for every artist who has worked hard in their art,” Cabrera said.
On the other hand, Abillion, 21, expressed her overwhelming joy in taking the crown, stressing that she barely had the confidence to participate in the search.
“People doubted me from the start. But with the win, I was able to empower people to find their own beauty and be proud of it,” Abillion stressed. “I was able to speak for those people who I share the same story with. We all possess beauty and we should learn the value of self-worth. Being true to yourself is the essence of beauty,” she added.
The pageant served as the highlight of the week-long TC Days that aimed to promote different advocacies and projects headed by each of the candidates. It was also packed with performances from university talents such as Rafael Seva, Jedu Ligan, and Kinesyx.
“This year’s AATC is different because previously it used to be just a pageant, but now we made sure that the candidates each had an advocacy to showcase and promote,” said head organizer Levie Domingo of the Collegiate Engineering Council.
