Queenmaker: Stella Marquez-Araneta
Sadly, Stella has not been a hundred percent well lately. Her last Binibining Pilipinas appearance was in 2024 where she was videotaped blowing kisses before the camera.
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Sadly, Stella has not been a hundred percent well lately. Her last Binibining Pilipinas appearance was in 2024 where she was videotaped blowing kisses before the camera.
An interesting photo op circulated in newspapers and social media platforms recently. It showed the first ever Miss International title-holder Stella Marquez-Araneta together with reigning Miss International Catalina Duque. Both women are from Colombia. Catalina was in the country recently to serve as judge in the 2026 Binibining Pilipinas, while Stella, as we all know, had always been identified with Binibining Pilipinas.
Yet contrary to popular belief, Marquez-Araneta did not establish Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. This most prestigious beauty pageant was founded by the Araneta patriarch, Jesus Amado Araneta, in 1964. Binibining Pilipinas was organized to select the Philippine delegate to Miss Universe.
In 1968, Mr. Araneta decided to turn over the management of Binibining Pilipinas to his daughter-in-law, the former Stella Marquez. She, of course, was no stranger to beauty pageants, having first competed in Miss Universe in 1960 where she became one of the 15 semi-finalists. That same year, she also joined the very first edition of Miss International and won the title.
Of Hispanic descent, Stella also has Polish blood in her veins. Her middle name, in fact, is Zawadski. She was born in Colombia on 4 May 1939. When she was 15 years old, she stayed in New York to study at the Marymount School in Manhattan. She later moved back to Colombia for a few years, only to return to New York for college — still at Marymount, but at Tarrytown — where she majored in psychology and French.
When she transferred back once more to Colombia, the pageant bug bit her. She won a series of minor beauty titles until she was crowned Miss Colombia. That allowed her to compete in Miss Universe and, later, in Miss International, which was held in Long Beach, California. As part of her prize as Miss International, she received $10,000, along with several pieces of jewelry priced at more than $4,000.
How Stella met Jorge
During the early 1960s, there was an annual event held at the Araneta Coliseum called International Beauty Congress. It was not a contest. Beauty titlists from the Philippines and foreign countries were invited to take part in this gathering of beautiful women. All they did was walk down the ramp in formal evening wear. One of the more famous participants in the International Beauty Congress was Helen Gamboa, who took part in the event in her capacity as Miss Philippine Press Photography first runner-up.
In the first edition of the International Beauty Congress, the finale was Stella Marquez. That was how she was spotted by Jorge Araneta, the only son of Jesus Amado Araneta. Jorge is known in the elite circle as Nene Araneta. Nene may be a girl’s name in the Philippines, but in the Castilian language, it means baby or little boy. Jorge is the uncle of Mar Roxas and the late chef Margarita Fores.
The first time Jorge saw Stella, he fell in love with the Colombian beauty. This was, more or less, how he humorously summed up their first meeting: “She came, we met, and I was conquered.”
Jorge lost no time pursuing Stella — very much like what Virgilio Hilario did to the very first Miss Universe, the Finnish beauty Armi Kuusela a decade earlier. The very first winners of both Miss Universe and Miss International therefore ended up with Filipino husbands. In 1965, the first winner of Miss Asia, Angela Filmer of Malaysia, also married a Filipino, an executive of Pepsi Cola.
As soon as Stella ended her reign as Miss International, she and Jorge had a grand wedding at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Peter in the city of Cali in Colombia. Stella’s wedding entourage — maid of honor, bridesmaids and flower girls — totaled to almost a dozen.
The couple later settled at the Araneta ancestral home called Bahay na Puti in Cubao, Quezon City. It is a huge compound that is difficult to miss when one passes at the corner of EDSA and P. Tuazon. That is also where Mar Roxas lives, along with wife Korina Sanchez, although they maintain a condominium unit that serves as a secondary home.
Driving force
After Korina married Mar, she was supposedly offered to run Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. Stella was already past 70 then and wanted to retire as chairperson of the beauty pageant. But her shoes were too big to fill. This must have been the reason why Korina didn’t want to take Stella’s place.
The truth is, no one could be good enough to head Binibining Pilipinas apart from Stella. It became her passion from the day her father-in-law gave her the position. The very same year she took charge of the contest, she immediately got the local franchise to Miss International.
Initially, there were separate coronation nights for selecting the representatives to Miss Universe and Miss International. The one for Miss Universe was held at the Big Dome, while a smaller one was staged at the Manila Hilton for Miss International.
In 1969, Stella started crowning two queens in one night at the Araneta Coliseum. Binibining Pilipinas was Gloria Diaz. The title given to the Philippine delegate to Miss International was Miss Philippines. It was clinched by Binky Montinola. The Binibining Pilipinas-International title was not introduced until 1973.
Stella hit the jackpot when Gloria won Miss Universe. She then went on a winning streak. Aurora Pijuan became Miss International in 1970. That same year, she also acquired the local franchise to Miss Young International. The second Philippine bet to Miss Young International was Maricar Zaldarriaga, the mother of Mar Roxas’ son, Paolo.
Binibining Pilipinas, under the leadership of Stella, produced four Miss Universe winners and five Miss International titlists. There are also Binibining Pilipinas alumnae who won Miss Globe, Miss Intercontinental and Miss Supranational — plus dozens of runners-up in international pageants. Stella Marquez Araneta was the driving force behind those victories.
Forgotten too soon?
Sadly, Stella has not been a hundred percent well lately. Her last Binibining Pilipinas appearance was in 2024 where she was videotaped blowing kisses before the camera.
During this most recent Binibining Pilipinas edition, Stella was brought to one of the events at the Araneta Coliseum. She is now wheelchair-bound most of the time. The sad part was when she was brought inside the venue. As soon as she was wheeled in, the delegates starting asking among themselves: “Who is that?”
Isn’t that tragic? Those girls wouldn’t be there in the first place had it not been for that woman they don’t even recognize. It’s only been a few years since she started skipping the coronation night of Binibining Pilipinas and yet she has already been forgotten — by the very girls joining the contest she had shepherded for more than five decades!
Before Manny Pacquiao, Hidilyn Diaz, Carlos Yulo and Alex Eala started making a dent in the international sports arena, it was in global beauty pageants where Filipinos first excelled. In an ironic twist, it had to be a Colombian who pushed for the Philippine sash to be recognized in the field of international pageantry. But it seems she’s been forgotten all too quickly.
Such is the tragedy of the queenmaker Stella, who put the Philippines in the map through international pageants that showcased the Filipina beauty.
