Gemma Cruz Araneta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gemma Cruz Araneta Beauty pageant titleholder

Birth name:	Gemma Teresa Guerrero Cruz
Birth location:	Philippines
Eye color:	Brown
Hair color:	Black
Ethnicity:	Filipino
Title(s):	Miss International 1964

Gemma Teresa Guerrero Cruz Araneta 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 .

1 Heroic heritage
2 Rise to fame
3 Career
4 References

[edit] Heroic heritage

Araneta's paternal great-grandmother was Doña Maria Rizal, the sister of the Philippine's national hero, Jose P. Rizal.^[1]^[2]

[edit] 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.^[3]^{[unreliable source?]}

[edit] 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.^[4] 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. ^[5]

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.^[6]

To date, Araneta has authored and co-authored six books namely:^{[citation needed]}