Beyond the Sash

By: Bhal Cabrrera

The story of Ryza Jane Manisan, a Grade 12 student, a balut vendor and Binibining Tangub 2026’s 1st Runner-Up

TANGUB CITY, Misamis Occidental — Under the bright lights of the Binibining Tangub 2026 stage, Ryza Jane Manisan wore a gown and sash and stood before an audience.

Away from the pageant stage, the 17-year-old Grade 12 student helps her family sell balut.

Manisan is one of four siblings. Her father is a barangay kagawad, while her mother is a homemaker. Along with her siblings and other family members, she helps with their balut vending livelihood.

For Manisan, selling balut is part of everyday family life. It is something she does while continuing her studies and pursuing her own goals.

Her life outside the pageant gives another perspective to the young woman seen onstage.

During the competition, she represented confidence, beauty and pride in her community. Away from the spotlight, she remains a student, daughter and sister who helps her family.

She finished as 1st Runner-Up in Binibining Tangub 2026.

While she did not take home the main crown, the result became another achievement in her young life. At 17, she still has Grade 12 to complete and a future to build.

Her pageant journey is only one part of her story.

There is also the classroom, where she continues her education; the family home, where she shares responsibilities with her siblings; and the balut stall, where she works alongside her family.

These are ordinary parts of her life, but they help explain the person behind the sash.

Binibining Tangub 2026 carries the theme, “Beauty Rooted in Heritage, Radiant Beyond Borders.”

For Ryza Jane Manisan, being rooted also means staying connected to her family and the experiences that shaped her.

She may have earned a place on the pageant stage, but when the lights go out, she returns to the life she knows—studying, helping her family and looking ahead.

Ryza Jane Manisan is a Grade 12 student, a balut vendor, a daughter, a sister, and Binibining Tangub 2026’s 1st Runner-Up.

Beyond the sash is her story.