Photo by NPPA ImagesLast night at the MRT station, I overheard two office girls talking about the Miss Universe pageant's decision to revise its rules and accept transgenders in the prestigious international beauty pageant. Yes, the debate on whether it is right for these Johnny-come-lately females to join beauty pageants is raging — even across the globe where it was  hailed as a big step forward towards gender equality even as some countries  plan to file protests against it.

In the Philippines, Bb. Pilipinas Charities Inc., which sends representatives  year in and year out to the Miss Universe pageant (aside from other tilts), the reaction is that of wait and see.

The official statement reads:

"We respect the decision of the Miss Universe Organization to change its policy regarding transgender participation in the pageant. At the moment, however, we are still awaiting the guidelines of this policy decision from the Miss Universe Organization."

Others in the know about beauty contests are less tentative

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Miss Philippines Venus Raj, right, answers a question with hosts Bret Michaels, left, and Natalie Morales during …With the Bb. Pilipinas coronation night only a few weeks away, beauty pageant watchers are at it again: giving contestants the once-over and asking friends and family to join them as they find out who will represent the country in the next round of international beauty tilts.

It' s a great time as any to recall famous beauty queen lines that did the rounds of social media, or — or in its absence years back —  beauty salons, the coffee shops, even school campuses.

Let's take a trip down beauty pageant memory lane.

Gloria Diaz

Remember  back in 1969?  America conquered the moon (thanks to Neil Armstrong), but the Philippines conquered the universe.

Gloria Diaz brought home the country's first Miss Universe crown with her witty reply to host Bob Barker's question: If a man on the moon would come down, how would you entertain him?

Gloria's winning quote:

"I guess since he has been in the moon so long he would enjoy anything that an ordinary man would."

Melanie Marquez

1979 Miss

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Esquire Editor-in-chief Erwin Romulo (Contributed photo)Men want the overview. Women want the details. Men are more aggressive. Women take the soft approach.

This, "Esquire Philippines" editor-in-chief Erwin Romulo knows all too well. That's why a fashion pictorial or article for the men's magazine doesn't focus on mixing and matching coordinates as much as it does in what's best to wear, say, for summer or a corporate event.

"We show the entire picture. We show fashion in context," Erwin explains.

A masculine look defines the cover. This month's Ely Buendia cover, for instance, has a solid gray background. The fonts, except for the magazine's logo, are big and bold.

"It's a very aggressive type of cover," relates Erwin. "It reaches out to you, tries to grab your attention."

Who wouldn't take a second look at an Ely Buendia who trades his signature jeans for a formal suit and a pair of black shiny shoes?

After all, Ely, like everyman, wants to look better, more stylish.

"The core values of Esquire all these years have remained the same,"

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Members of the elite society raise their glasses as a toast for the 25th year anniversary of Lifestyle Asia magazine …Chris Tiu proved he can perform well with the grand piano the way he can stun the crowd with his skills on the hard court. Vicki Belo was a head turner as usual in her gold backless mini.  The celebrity doctor went stag because her beloved, Hayden Kho, she reported, is sick.

Pops Fernandez and Nina Jose blended with the well-heeled crowd.

These scenes could have delighted any star struck fan.  But there seemed to be none of them that night of Jan. 31, when "Lifestyle Asia" celebrated its 25^th year at  Makati Shangri-La's posh dining venue, RED.

The men, in formal suits, and the ladies, in cocktail dresses, sipped Moet et Chandon champagne. A special drink of deconstructed lychee martini with Belvedere vodka as base added to the classy touch.

Cameras flashed some more as former senator Miguel Zubiri shared stories with his wife Audrey.

Everything went still when the magazine's editor-in-chief Anna Sobrepena stood up and said, "Every month, we give to charity.  We plant trees with every

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Dane DeHaan as Andrew as a troubled teenager in the new film. (Publicity photo)In this age of social media, almost anyone can be a photographer, a videographer, even a reporter.  Just upload images from your hand-held camera, write a few sentences about what you saw and heard.

Voila! Yours is the power to be heard and seen all over the world! If you're lucky, your video or photo can go viral and you'll have the world in the palm of your hand.

That's great if you know what to do with those powers.  But if you don't, the big headache begins.

This is  what happens when an outcast of a teenager named Andrew Detmer (played by Dane DeHaan) suddenly gets telekinetic powers along with his equally young cousin Matt Garetty (Alex Russell) and  Steven Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan).

Andrew, with the dying mother, jobless father and blah campus reputation, needs something to shore up his low self-esteem. So the telekinetic powers come like a soothing balm to his wounds.

Suddenly, he's no longer the helpless son who can't fight back when his violent father strikes. Andrew is

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Janelle Manahan (Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN)The battle is not yet over for Janelle Manahan, just because she has checked out of Asian Hospital recently. She still has to grapple with two forces: external and internal.

The external one — consisting of police investigations and media interviews over the murder of her boyfriend Ram Revilla — is something she has little control over. It's the internal one, which requires her to exorcise her personal demons, that she has full control over.

And this is where Janelle needs no ordinary kind of help.

She's off to a good start.  Janelle has her parents and phalanx of friends to see her through the night.  She can tell them what's bugging her anytime she feels like it.

As psychologist Randy Dellosa says, "Janelle needs to surround herself with friends and loved ones who can provide her emotional support.  She will need to express her feelings instead of bottling them up inside."

It also helps that she tells everyone she misses Ram and recalls her fond memories of him.  It's part of the

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Louise delos Reyes, Rhian Ramos and Alden Richards in the suspense thriller "The Road." (Publicity photo)Sharon Cuneta kept mum about her new deal with TV5.  But she was not at a loss for words regarding "The Road'", which she saw at the celebrity VIP screening last Nov. 23 at the Resorts World Cinema 1.

"I knew who the culprit was all along," she said.  "I'm a fan of horror movies. I watch them before doing a concert to chase the butterflies in my stomach away."

Moviegoers may or may not agree with Sharon when they see the suspense thriller in theaters starting Wednesday, Nov. 30.  But one thing's sure: they will go home thinking the bedroom closet might open to a gruesome scene at any time of the day or night.

Director Yam Laranas played with light and sound and came up with a film which delivers the creeps, not so much because of those headless characters wrapped in transparent plastic (all the more to see their lacerated faces). Too many horror films have used that formula to death.

"The Road" plays tricks on the imagination. It makes you wonder what lurks behind the closed door, what

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'Tween Academy' class picture (Photo courtesy of GMA)There's something about high school that you never forget. It could be a first crush, a first love, a first whatever.  But one thing's sure: high school — that magical phase between childhood and adolescence — is a stage apart.

Think 'High School Musical.'  Think 'Bagets' in the '80s.

And think 'Tween Academy Class of 2012' in the here and now.  Kara (Barbie Forteza) and Robin (Joshua Dionisio) are wrapped in the virtual world. They start out as chat mates with colorful fictitious names — Super Girl and Colossus, respectively.

Then, the relationship levels up as Super Girl and Colossus realize they're slowly falling for each other.  Sounds familiar? Read stories about romances — and even marriages — that started in the Net and you'll know why.

The phone pals of yesteryear are the chat mates of today. Back when generation X was not yet a glimmer in their parents' eyes, couples 'met' and fell in love through the telephone.

The mystery lay in the person's voice; now it lies in the way he

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