Gemma Cruz Araneta

Pageant titleholder bio
photo =
caption=
title=Miss International 1964
location= Philippines
birthname= Gemma Teresa Guerrero Cruz
birth =
height=
eye color= Brown
hair color= Black
ethnicity= Filipino

Gemma Teresa Cruz-Araneta (born Gemma Teresa Guerrero Cruz) is the first Philippine delegate to win the Miss International title in the pageant's fifth edition in Long Beach, California in 1964. She is the first Filipina to win an international beauty pageant title.

Araneta received an "Outstanding Manileña" and a "Golden Heart" Presidential decoration from President Diosdado Macapagal .

Heroic heritage

Araneta's paternal great-grandmother was Doña Maria Rizal, the sister of the Philippine's national hero, Jose P. Rizal. [cite web | last =Teodoro | first =Luis | title =Dynasty | url=http://www.luisteodoro.com/archives/2005/09/12/dynasty/ | accessdate = 2007-06-07] [cite web | last = | first = | title =Rizal Family Tree | url=http://pages.prodigy.net/manila_girl/rizal/tree.htm Rizal Family Tree | accessdate = 2008-03-19]

Rise to fame

She earned the right to represent the country by winning the Miss Philippines pageant, sponsored by the City of Manila in 1964. Araneta donated the US$10,000 prize money she won as Miss International to Boys Town and Girls Home, a place where indigent and out of school youth are housed in Marikina City in the Philippines. This led Congress to pass a resolution to exempt her from paying taxes. [cite web | last = | first = | title =Congratulations to Precious Lara Quigaman | url=http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t45473.html | accessdate = 2007-06-07] Verify credibility|date=July 2007

Career

Araneta first entered public service in 1968 when then-President Ferdinand Marcos appointed her Director of the National Museum. She was concurrently a member of the National Historical Commission (now National Historical Institute). She was appointed Secretary of the Department of Tourism by President Joseph Estrada, a position she held from June 30, 1998 to January 20, 2001. [cite web | last = | first = | title =Link broken as of 2008-03-19 | url=http://www.pathfinder.com/asiaweek/98/1009/nat1.html | accessdate = 2007-06-07] She resumed her writing career in 2001 and has now a bi-weekly column editorial section in Manila Bulletin.

In 2003, she was elected director/trustee and president of Heritage Conservation Society of the Philippines and was re-elected in February 2006. [cite news | last =Picornell | first =Jaime | title =Casa Gorordo Museum reopens on Aug. 21 | pages = | publisher =Cebu Daily News | date = 2006-08-02
url =http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view_article.php?article_id=13043 | accessdate = 2006-06-07]

On May 16, 2005, Araneta started hosting a daily radio program, "Krus Na Daan" (Filipino for "Crossroads") on DZRJ and a weekly television show, "Only Gemma!" on Rajah Broadcasting Corporation. [cite web | last = | first = | title =Link broken as of 2008-03-19 | url=http://www.rjplanet.com.ph | accessdate = 2007-06-07]

To date, Araneta has authored and co-authored six books namely:Fact|date=March 2008
* "Makisig, the Little Hero of Mactan"
* "Hanoi Diary: Beauty and Fashion for the Filipina" (co-author)
* "Sentimiento: Fiction and Nostagia"
* "Katha at Salamisim"
* "El Galeon de Manila: Un Mar de Historias" (co-author)
* "Stones of Faith"

References