Woke up to some very sad news today. Merced Edith Nakpil Rabat had passed on last Wednesday after a loooong battle with cancer.
According to the Sun Star Davao, Edith was 74. She had taken her last breath on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 4:10 in the afternoon in Cardinal Santos Hospital. She was cremated and her remains lie in state at the Santuario de San Jose in Greenhills.
On August 31, her ashes will be flown to her home in Mati, Davao.
Her late husband “The Rajah of Rebound” basketball player and politician Francisco “Paking” Rabat passed on in July 2008 at the same age of 74.
Here is what beauty expert Felix Manuel wrote about the Grand Dame of Mati:
Edith Merced Noble Nakpil was crowned Ms Philippines in 1956 but did not compete at the Miss Universe Pageant; Isabel Rodriguez, a Ms Philippine Red Cross titleholder replaced her. Her mother, Anita Agoncillo Noble, was crowned the first Ms Philippines in 1926, they became the second mother-daughter beauty titleholders in the country; the first being Pura Villanueva(the first Carnival Queen in 1908) and Maria Kalaw(Carnival Queen 1931). Her father, Juan Nakpil, was named National Artist For The Arts. Her husband, the late Francisco “Paking” Rabat was a part of the Philippine National Basketball team who won the bronze medal in the 1954 Olympics and first started his political career as Vice Governor of Davao Oriental from 1972-1975. He became governor from 1978-1985 and then Mati Mayor from 2001 to 2007. Their daughter is incumbent Mati Mayor Michelle Rabat.
Edith was the chairperson of Sambuokan Festival, a festivity that showcased the best of Mati. It was under her leadership that Sambuokan Festival had become the second most popular festival in Mindanao after Kadayawan Festival in Davao City.
EDITH NAKPIL RABAT’S LINEAGE IS AMAZING! This beauty queen is like a walking history book: her grandfather was Julio Nakpil, first secretary of Andres Bonifacio and composer of the first national anthem while her grandmother was Gregoria de Jesus, Lakambini of the Katipunan and widow of Andres Bonifacio.
****The Manila Carnivals Blog and the Sun Star both list Edith Rabat as Ms Philippines 1955 but beauty expert Felix Manuel has her as 1956. Will dig into that a bit and see which year is correct.
UPDATE, August 30,2009 – Recieved this note from Beauty Expert Felix Manuel:
i was told that she won in 1956…she failed to participate in ms u 1956 due to parental objection that’s why isabel rodriguez ( a red cross beauty queen) was sent to ms u 1956.it is also not clear to me if she is 1955 or 1956, i have no date of the national pageantpageant…yvonne delos reyes was ms phils 1955 and went to ms u that year.
Checked with Ms Universe historians online and they list Isabel Rodriguez as the candidate of the PHilippines in 1956 so Edith Rabat did win in 1956 and not in 1955 as mentioned by some articles.
Click here to read more about Merced Edith Nakpil Rabat in Sun Star Davao
Edith Nakpil Rabat modeling a Terno
Ms Philippines 1955 Merced Edith Rabat (seated) with her beauty queen Mother Anita Noble-Nakpil and Father Juan Nakpil
Please visit the Manila Carnivals Blog for pageant history. I found this lovely photo on that site.
Condolences to her family…
You couldn’t have said better, Ms. Joyce: Yes, what an amazing lineage!
She looked great in that terno. I think we should have our Miss Philippines representatives wear the terno as their gown in international pageants!
Aldrin
Edith Nakpil was the 1955 Boys Town Miss Philippines and this title had nothing to do with the country’s representation to the Miss Universe pageant. The Boys Town then was considered an impt. institution like Red Cross, Phil. Anti-TB Society, etc. which annually sponsored high profile projects–like the 1955 Miss Philippines search.
As such, there was no “failure” on her part to participate in the Miss U 1956″–because, in the 1st place, she was not supposed to.
In the 50s, the title of Miss Philippines was given freely by corporate sponsors, and did not instantly mean that the winners had to go to international competitions. A case in point would be Cristina Galang, who was named “Miss Philippines” 1953, but her obligations were clearly and purely local–she served as the welcome official of the Philippine International Fair that year.
Back to Edith Nakpil’s supposed “parental objection”–that is also clearly a myth. Her parents wouldn’t have stood proudly to have their picture taken with her if they had objections to the conditions of the contest in the first place. Internet sources are highly suspect when it comes to accuracy esp. if there is no proper citation.
My source for the 1955 date is journalist Lina Flor’s series of articles on Manila Carnival queens serialized on Woman’s Home Companion Magazine in 1974. Hope this provided enlightenment to the matter.
http://www.manilacarnivals.blogspot.com
Hello Alex!!!! Thanks much for the information you are right about how the internet can be a shaky source for facts. Thanks to people like you, we have check and balance. So, how long have you been interested in these things?
Though I am not a trained historian, I like local history. My job as an advertising creative however has taught me to pay attention to details–even seemingly trivial ones, like dates. I am interested in the history of the Manila Carnivals as a whole, not limited to the life of the royals who helped animate the event. The Carnival was OUR national past-time, impacting greatly on our ideas of leisure, entertainment and social life under our colonial masters. But it’s the aspect of beauty that seemed to have fascinated people the most. Our obsession for pageants are rooted in this Carnival tradition. Maybe you could start tracking down contemporary beauty queens and start a “Where Are They Now?” series, long after the luster of their crowns have faded. The ’success rate’ of Carnival queens, post-Carnival, is just incredible, and the pageant definitely had something to do with it. As a broadcast journalist, I am sure you can come up with interesting features on your great blog which I just discovered last week–you did so well as Miss Young Philippines and as Bb. Pilipinas-Universe. Carry on!
Alex, that is confirmation of something I’ve been thinking of… tracking down the Carnival Queens as well as the early Ms Philippines and Bb Pilipinas winners – but for now, I am fighting the fungus at home! Typhoon Ondoy seriously knocked out most of my furniture and what’s left are a few pieces that are attracting mold. UGH! Pray for a fast recovery…
Oh my, I am sorry to hear that. I am hoping that you will soon have your pretty house back–furniture and all. The last of the Carnival Queen who passed away was Guia Balmori (1938 winner). I was even invited to her memorial service! Well, if you do get around to starting that feature on Bb. Pilipinas, I have loads of references from the 60s and 70s. Stay safe and dry and see you on TV.
I was thinking, since (most of?) the CQs are in BQ Heaven by now, I could track down their children/grandchildren and ask them to share thier memories… oh, and thanks for the offer of help; i will NEED it since I hardly have ANY knowledge on Philippine beauty pageants. It will be an interesting journey for me, I’m sure…