After the filming wrapped up for Gandarrapiddo, she
returned to her roots as one of the eight judges for
the Miss Universe 2017. As an avid fan of the pageant,
she used to watch it all the time on TV. “When I was
chosen to be one of the judges, it was my first time
to watch it live,” she says, “On TV, kayang-kaya mong
pumili ng mananalo, na-pi-pinpoint mo agad kung
sino ‘yung malalakas. But this time na isa ako sa mga
judge, bago mag-start ‘yung competition, ako ‘yung
kinakabahan at gusto ko maiyak sa kaba. I realized,
mas mahirap pa maging judge kaysa maging
candidate.” She felt nervous for the contestants and
commiserated with them when they didn’t get in.
Echoing the words of Paula Shugart, the president of
Miss Universe Organization, Pia says, “Yes, you have
a winner, but then you also have other girls who
didn’t make it, so it’s really hard.”
Pia also takes her job as the UNAIDS Goodwill
Ambassador for the Asia and Pacific seriously.
Passionate about her advocacy on HIV awareness, she
is proud to have finished one part of the Progressive
Information Awareness or PIA Project. They aim to
raise awareness by informing the public through a
video on what HIV is, how one becomes infected, and
how it can be prevented. Having finished the video,
she says, “It’s basically a light video and hopefully,
kumalat siya.” In fact, UNAIDS already wants to have
a copy of the video for other Asian countries.
INSIDE SHOWBIZ WEEKLY DECEMBER 2017