LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — A winning beauty queen needs more than a good walk and a well-delivered answer. She needs to know how to make both truly hers.

That is where Cebuano coaches Michelle “Mich” Padayhag and Antonio “Anton” Gonzales Dolino come in.

For this year’s newly crowned Binibining Pilipinas national titleholders Gwendoline Soriano and Sasha Lacuna, the two queens had more in common than their victories.

They also shared the same runway and communication coaches: the proudly Cebuano tandem who helped bring out the best in them onstage.

So, what exactly does it take to help a Binibini bring home a crown?

‘Kuha ka sa tingin’

For runway coach Anton, highlighting a candidate’s strongest assets is key to creating a memorable pageant walk.

In the Philippines, where the runway is better known among pageant fans as the pasarela, the walk is often a candidate’s first opportunity to make an impression.

“In pageantry, judges will look at how they walk before they talk. So, everything is about the pasarela,” Anton told CDN Digital.

To create the right runway walk, Anton considers each candidate’s body proportions and personality to determine which features should be emphasized on stage.

Candidates with longer legs, for example, may be encouraged to use longer strides to show them off, while those who are less curvy may be taught to add more hip movement.

Personality also plays a major role.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Binibining Pilipinas 2026

Whether a candidate has a cheerful personality or a stronger, more commanding aura, Anton makes sure her strongest qualities are reflected in the way she moves.

“Every walk has to be personalized with each girl,” Anton shared. “I don’t follow books. I follow what is suitable. I look at what suits the girl and what makes her body projection look good on stage.”

The goal is to make the judges look—and keep looking.

‘Kumakain ng mic’

But a pageant is not won on the runway alone.

Filipino pageant fans, in particular, are known for being highly particular about how queens answer questions.

The ability to “devour the microphone,” as pageant enthusiasts often put it, has become an important part of what audiences expect from a beauty queen.

That is why communication coach Mich believes candidates need to invest as much time in developing their awareness and public speaking skills as they do in perfecting their runway walk.

Like Anton, Mich’s begins with assessing each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. She then tailors the training based on what needs to be improved.

“The approach is different according to their weaknesses and strengths. If I spoon-feed them [with answers], the personality of the girls will be lost,” she said.

For a candidate who struggles with social issues, for example, Mich may first give more focus on local, national, and global developments.

The goal is to help candidates understand these issues well enough to connect them to their own experiences and beliefs, allowing them to answer more authentically.

Addressing the belief that candidates are often taught cookie-cutter answers, Mich said she discourages memorization and instead pushes them to stay true to themselves when answering.

“I tell the girls, ‘You try to remember who you are and what you do as a Binibini,’” she said. “I will not dictate what they [the judges] want, but I want to show what kind of person you are.”

Bringing out the Binibini

The approach paid off.

At the 62nd Binibining Pilipinas pageant held on July 18, 2026, two of the candidates trained by the Cebuano coaches took home national titles.

Gwendoline Soriano of Baguio was crowned Miss International, while Sasha Lacuna of Tarlac became the country’s next representative to Miss Globe.

“The feeling was really fulfilling and surreal because it was the first time for me. We won two titles at once, so it’s a great achievement,” Anton said.

For Mich, the conclusion of the pageant brought mixed emotions.

“I had two feelings at that moment. [It was] fulfilling in a sense that after all the hard work, you’ve really seen your girls winning. It’s always a mentor’s dream to see their mentees be successful,” Mich said.

“But at the same time, I also felt empathetic towards the girls who didn’t make it. We know that the other girls really worked so hard. They invested time, and resource-wise, it’s not really easy to invest in pageantry,” she added.

In the months leading up to the competition, both coaches worked with several candidates throughout the training period.

Although Mich and Anton handled their clients separately, they ended up sharing four candidates in this year’s Binibining Pilipinas pageant: Soriano, Lacuna, Aklan’s Pauline Ibuyan, and Pangasinan’s Stacey de Ocampo.

Mich said some of her clients began communication training as early as seven months before the pageant.

Even while handling several candidates, she made sure each received the same amount of time and attention.

“I’m not complacent as a mentor. We don’t just train once a week. As much as possible, I really require them to train three to four times a week,” Mich said.

“I also made sure to give them the equal amount of time and quality training. Especially in the question and answer, which really takes a lot of mental stability,” she added.

The training continued until coronation night.

Mich said staying calm was important during the final stretch of the competition, especially because the candidates also looked to their mentors for reassurance.

Before the pageant, she gave her clients rosaries as a symbol of faith in what they had trained for and what they were capable of.

Anton, meanwhile, said he felt the pressure to produce candidates who would make an impression on the runway. This was especially true during the swimsuit competition, where several of his past clients had gained recognition.

Instead of allowing that pressure to overwhelm him, he used it to motivate his trainees.

“We’ve been practicing for so many months. We’ve been preparing for so many months. So, I know the capabilities of our girls,” Anton said.

Although their training sessions were separate, they exchanged messages to monitor their candidates’ progress, even during the pageant proper.

But having the same coaches came with its own challenge.

“Since it’s just the same trainers, the tendency is that everyone will be the same. So, the attack here is how they will stand out on their own,” Anton said.

And stand out on their own they did.

From Cebu to the world

Their success at Binibining Pilipinas is the latest achievement in coaching careers that began in Cebu and have since expanded internationally.

Anton, who comes from Mandaue City, began the Muse Philippines brand for pageant training around 2020. He is currently based in Cebu and Manila and also works internationally in Cambodia, India, and Japan.

For the past six years, Anton has honed his coaching skills in catwalk training, drawing inspiration from Latin American pageantry and powerhouse countries such as Venezuela and Colombia.

Mich, meanwhile, is a former journalist who proudly hails from Badian.

In 2019, she began working as a private trainer, later expanding into advocacy development, question-and-answer coaching, and pageant consulting through her #QuickThoughts training program.

She has since worked with candidates for national pageants, including Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo and Miss Grand International 2025 Emma Mary Tiglao.

Mich has also expanded her work internationally, having trained candidates from more than 20 countries.

With their experience and recent wins, both coaches hope to bring more of their expertise closer to home.

“Our goal is to make Cebu the pageant hub in the Philippines,” Anton shared, explaining how more local training opportunities could make specialized coaching more accessible to candidates from the Visayas and Mindanao.

Anton stressed the significant investment involved in traveling to other places, usually Manila, for coaching.

Having trainers closer to home, he said, could help candidates while also strengthening Cebu’s pageant industry.

“In that way also, we are able to help Cebu creatives. We were able to tap in designers, stylists, and makeup artists from Cebu,” he added.

For the two coaches, building a stronger local pageant industry is part of the bigger picture.

And as their careers take them to more places, both continue to hold on to the same lesson they teach their candidates: stay true to who you are and where you come from.

“You should not also forget where you come from. That’s why wherever I go, I always tell them, ‘I’m a Cebuana. I’m very proud to be from Cebu’,” Mich said.