Beauty pageantry is entrenched in the Filipino culture. The excitement of fêting the most beautiful lass in the barrio or town initially as Reyna Elena for the Marian procession of Santacruzan dates as far back as the Spanish period.

Over time, the appreciation of pulchritude evolved into crowning Carnival Queens during the American regime in 1908. By 1926, Anita Agoncillo Noble became the very first Miss Philippines titleholder.