Miss Cebu 2022 Gabbi Carballo: Driven by fate and purpose (The Freeman)

Despite winning Miss Mandaue 2018 and Miss Cebu 2022, as well as being quite well-spoken, Gabrialla Mai "Gabbi" Ceniza Carballo admits that her insecurity, which is her social skills, still remains. “As a beauty queen it’s necessary to have conversations with many kinds of people, and sometimes with everything I have to balance, on top of my innately introverted nature, I find it hard to find energy to have fruitful conversations.”

Though she finds stopping herself from overthinking conversations to be a challenge, the 23-year-old shared to The FREEMAN that she has been improving and hopes to get better over time. “I’m truly self-conscious and shy at my core — a quality that I’m still trying to overcome until today,” Gabbi said.

Overcoming obstacles through the years with the help of her spiritual faith and strong will, Gabbi continues to strive for personal growth and fulfillment of her life’s purpose. Goodbye U.S., hello Philippines!

In an interview with MyTV Cebu, she shared that while growing up in Orlando, Florida in the United States, one of the first difficult situations she had to face as a teen was when her parents decided to move back to the Philippines.

Her parents met in the US. Her dad, Ruben, is from Negros Oriental, while her mom, Mai, hails from Cebu. “Imagine being 13, your friends mean the world to you and so to leave the environment you’ve called your home for so long was not the nicest thought at that time,” said Gabbi.

Despite the family’s big move, she “went with the flow” and later found that moving to Cebu was a huge blessing in disguise.

“It just shows that no matter where life takes you is exactly where you’re supposed to be so I’m very happy here. I’m happy to be just one small part of Cebu.”

Athlete-turned-beauty queen Having been immersed in sports early on, Gabbi never thought of one day becoming a beauty queen, let alone a model.

Standing at five-foot-eight, she got into multiple sports, soccer being the first before dabbling in basketball, volleyball, as well as track and field.

Even when she already resided in Cebu, her athletic spirit never died as she continued competing in sporting events as a volleyball varsity player for three years at Cebu Doctors’ University.

“As a young girl I would have Titos and Titas tell me ‘Ah, you should be the next Miss Universe,’ but I would always be like, ‘It’s not for me.’”

Discovered by MAC (Models Association of Cebu) owner Valeriano “Chicoy” Tomol III, Gabbi was first introduced to the modeling industry when her family moved back to the country.

“It just so happened that my mom used to model back in her time so when we would go on vacations here, sometimes they would be like ‘You shoot with us.’ I was so awkward in front of the camera at that time, but he (Chicoy) saw something [in me],” said Gabbi.

It was not until she watched Miss Mandaue 2017 – the year before she tried her luck in the same pageant – that she started to warm up to the idea of joining a beauty tilt.

Around the same time, she found herself at a Cebu City restaurant where she met the late Jonas Borces by chance, who was with renowned Cebuano designer Cary Santiago.

“It just so happened that Mommy Cary also knows my mom so when we walked in together, he was like ‘Hoy Maimai!’”

She was fresh out of school without any makeup, still wearing her glasses, and yet, Borces could not take his eyes off her.

“He went up to me and asked for my number. A little while after that, I contacted him, and he was like ‘I already have your number. Perfect!’ so it was really him that got me into pageantry,” she recalled of the late makeup artist and queen maker.

“There was something in my heart that just told me to want to try it, and now, here we are. I think that the choice was definitely meant to happen.”

Coming out victorious at her first major pageant with the help of Borces, it broke Gabbi’s heart when she heard of his untimely demise in 2020 due to COVID-19. “I owe so much of my success today because of him, and I miss him dearly,” she said.

The Comeback Joining Miss Cebu 2022 four years after Miss Mandaue, Gabbi had to step up her game. She said that pageants have leveled up with Cebuana beauty queens clinching major national titles over the years.

Eager to improve her stage presentation, she rewatched her Miss Mandaue performance to assess her weak spots. “It was really more of the walk part because I know that back in 2018, I barely trained for the poses and the walk,” she noted.

“I knew that I had to really perform at a higher level, so I was training with Mommy Karla Supersoft from KF Cebu. We would train sometimes until 11 pm after we would have a full day of Miss Cebu activities.”

Overwhelmed as she had to juggle pageant events with medical school, Gabbi sometimes reached a point where she just had to cry it all out. Nevertheless, she persisted, as she had a support system that always had her back.

On coronation night, with only 30 seconds to make an impressive statement, all Gabbi prayed for during her final Q&A was that her words resonate with somebody in the crowd.

“I just asked that Mommy Jonas speak through me. I also asked one of my mentors from Miss Mandaue, Sir Mark Sanchez, who also passed away during the pandemic, that he speaks through me as well. It just felt like it rose out of me so I could really say that it was because of my faith that I was able to perform at that level especially for Q&A.”

As Miss Cebu 2022, Gabbi has been given more speaking opportunities. And as a big fan of TED Talks, she has always wanted to speak out and influence others through sharing her experiences.

She recognizes the responsibilities that come along with the title, the values that the organization upholds for its winners, as well as the legacy that she would want to leave as Miss Cebu 2022.

“[I would want to be] a title-holder that means what she says, does what she says, and leaves an impact on others simply for being her most genuine self,” said Gabbi.

Strengths & weaknesses Describing herself as calm, level-headed, and purpose driven, Gabbi believes that confidence must come from our ability to trust ourselves.

“I recognize my individuality thanks to my faith. There are plans for our lives since before we were born, and no two people’s lives are made to be the same.”

“I’ve also tried to practice keeping promises to myself even in the mundane. For example, if I tell myself I’ll wake up early, I’ll really wake up early. This then translates to the bigger things – if I tell myself I’ll practice walking for two hours, then I’ll really practice for two hours.”

She noted that her greatest weakness is not knowing when to ask for help. She tends to overwork herself to the point of burnout – which could be prevented if she only knew how to delegate tasks better and work with others. “It doesn’t help that I’m pretty stubborn when it comes to my ideas! I’m hoping to work on that more, so that if time comes that I’ll join another pageant, I won’t be as overwhelmed.”

Despite her innate shyness sometimes becoming a hindrance, Gabbi also believes that being an introvert also serves as her greatest strength since she gets to bask in the silence.

“It allows me to think a lot about the meaning of my life, brainstorm ideas that help me be different, have a good relationship with myself, get a lot of things done, and have a lot to say when it comes to topics thrown during Q&A portions.”

Ultimately, Gabbi wants to be remembered as someone who brings value to the lives of others.

“I just want to be known as someone who really strives for adding goodness into everything I come into contact with — people, work, school, etc.”

From nurse to aspiring dermatologist Initially finishing a degree in Nursing as it was the most practical decision that time, Gabbi had no plans of proceeding to Med school. Thinking she could already do so much with the degree she had, there was not much of a need for her to become a doctor – until she started working as a nurse.

“I realized that my personality doesn’t fit well with routine hours, and I love flexibility and the opportunity to still enjoy my other hobbies,” she shared.

Not wanting to be “defined by only one certain thing,” Gabbi decided to proceed to med school. She now aspires to specialize in Dermatology and someday run her own clinic. This way, she could work her own hours while still having time for other pursuits.

“Although Med school is tiring, I’m excited for all the learning. I just pray for energy and never losing my drive to learn and find purpose in every day. Hopefully, I’ll get to help beauty queens too through that practice.”

Being immersed in the medical field, it was through assessing the health of residents in local communities that Gabbi came up with her advocacy.

The Green Wave Cebu When Gabbi was a nursing intern, she engaged with families in communities who told her that the irregular collection of garbage within their area contributed to their unsanitary surroundings.

She shared, “Although I was not an environmental advocate before, it tugged at my heart that they were concerned enough about this issue to mention it to me as a nursing student.”

Establishing Green Wave Cebu in 2018, Gabbi’s four-year-old project has helped in teaching children about proper waste management in public schools, the holding of local clean-ups for the Butuanon River, and the launching of Sabon Sugbuanon wherein lightly used bar soaps from hotels in Cebu are recycled through remolding workshops with mothers across the province.

“This project therefore also helps with health and hygiene, preventing common respiratory and diarrheal diseases through the action of washing hands,” she said.

Gabbi urges local hotels to turn over soaps to them more often and hopefully have their logo in hotel rooms. She also hopes for volunteer opportunities for soap scraping in the city, soap-remolding workshops in the province, and provide income opportunities for local beneficiaries.

“I’ve always believed that an advocacy should be directed towards a need identified by the people, because the actions will be directed toward helping these same people,” said Gabbi.

Purpose over popularity Gabbi said she has never been the type that wants to be “super well-known.” She’d rather walk into a room and wish that people do not notice her.

On the possibility of joining a national pageant, she would always have to ask herself “why” before choosing to pursue something as she wants it to be in line with her values.

“If I’m doing it because everybody else says I should, then that is not the right reason. If I’m doing it because I think I can spread goodness in the world, that’s a better reason,” Gabbi said.

If she were to consider stepping on a bigger stage, it must be for her to meet more people to further her causes. “Is it really worth all of the attention to pursue that, and is it really for fulfilling what I call my purpose?”

She adds, “I’m lucky enough that at a young age I figured out that my purpose is to really help others, to assess what their needs are, and what I can do in that field. I don’t feel like I’m still in search of my purpose – rather what else can be done to fulfill it.”